Rankings Rise For Williams

Mark Williams has climbed to fifth place on the one year ranking list following his victory at the Dafabet Northern Ireland Open.

Welshman Williams won his first ranking title in six years by beating Yan Bingtao 9-8 in an exciting final in Belfast on Sunday night. The £70,000 top prize sees him jump five places fifth.

China’s 17-year-old Yan narrowly missed out on beating Ronnie O’Sullivan’s long-standing record as the youngest ever ranking event winner. The Chinese ace still won £30,000 and he’s up seven places to 13th.

Lyu Haotian and Elliot Slessor both reached the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time. China’s Lyu is up from 90th to 50th while Slessor leaps from 67th to 32nd.

This list will once again be used to determine the field for the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix and Ladbrokes Players Championship later in the season. The top 32 on the one-year list after the Coral Shoot Out will qualify for the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix in Preston (February 19-25) then the top 16 from the same list after the Gibraltar Open will qualify for the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Llandudno (March 19-25).

As it stands there are seven players in the top 32 of the one year list who are outside the top 32 of the official two year list, and six players in the top 16 of the one year list who are outside the top 16 of the two-year list.

Williams moves up from 16th to 11th on the two-year list while Yan is into the world’s top 32 for the first time, moving from 39th to 27th. Lyu shoots up from 101st to 82nd while Slessor goes from 82nd to 72nd.

The race to qualify for the Dafabet Masters is into its home straight, with only the Betway UK Championship to go before the top 16 seeds are known for Alexandra Palace. Neil Robertson and Ryan Day look to be contesting the 16th and last spot, with Day currently £3,912 ahead. To follow that race click here.

Tickets for all of the above events are on sale now, for details click here