This week’s BetVictor Shoot Out is the penultimate counting event in the race to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix in Leicester – the first tournament in the 2024 Players Series.
Only the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list at the end of the BetVictor Scottish Open (December 11-17) will qualify for the World Grand Prix which runs from January 15 to 21. So this week’s Shoot Out in Swansea (December 6-9) will be vital for many players looking to climb the list.
Robbie Williams is currently ‘on the bubble’ in 32nd place with £35,500. World Champion Luca Brecel is just £500 behind him, but Brecel has not entered the Shoot Out so he will need to win at least two matches in Scotland next week to qualify for Leicester.
Last year’s Player of the Season Mark Allen is in 30th with £38,500 so could do with a deep run in Swansea to make sure. Big names outside the top 32 include Kyren Wilson in 44th with £31,000, as well as 84th-placed Neil Robertson who is definitely out of the World Grand Prix as he has decided to take a break until January’s Masters.
Ronnie O’Sullivan won the MrQ UK Championship on Sunday night, his 40th career ranking title. The £250,000 top prize boosts him from tenth to second place on the one-year list, behind leader Judd Trump. The Rocket now looks well placed to qualify for the World Grand Prix as well as February’s Players Championship in Telford and April’s Tour Championship which heads to a new home at Manchester Central.
Ding Junhui was runner-up in York, earning £100,000 and he leaps from 17th to sixth. Hossein Vafaei reached the semi-finals and he climbs from 21st to tenth. Zhou Yuelong’s run to the quarter-finals moved him from 23rd to 14th.
On the official two-year list, O’Sullivan extends his lead over Trump to £221,500 and continues his unbroken run of 20 months as world number one. Ding jumps from 17th to 12th and his run in York earned him a place among the 16 players for next month’s Masters at Alexandra Palace – for the draw for that event click here. Vafaei just missed out, having climbed from 18th to 17th.
The two-year list at the end of the Shoot Out will be used for seeding for the 2024 BetVictor German Masters. A new format this year means that the top eight players will have their first round match held over to the Tempodrom in Berlin in the New Year, while all other players will head to the qualifying round in December.
Tickets for all of these tournaments are on sale now – for details click here.
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