Judd Trump extended his huge lead at the top of both the one-year ranking list and the BetVictor Series rankings with victory at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open in Belfast on Sunday.
Trump beat Chris Wakelin 9-3 in the final to land his third consecutive ranking title, and the £80,000 prize took his earnings for October alone to £300,000. He is now £98,500 ahead of second-placed Barry Hawkins at the top of the BetVictor Series rankings, with just four events to go before the £150,000 bonus is awarded to the player who tops the list at the end of the BetVictor Welsh Open in February.
And on the one-year list, Trump has a massive lead of £201,500 over second-placed Mark Williams. There are just four counting events to go before the top 32 – as it stands at the end of the BetVictor Scottish Open in December – will qualify for the World Grand Prix in Leicester in January.
Wakelin earned £35,000 as runner-up and he leaps from 21st to sixth. Hawkins banked £17,500 for reaching the semi-finals and remains third, while Jack Lisowski also reached the last four and he’s up from 15th to tenth.
Jimmy Robertson is currently ‘on the bubble’ in 32nd place with £23,500. Star names who have work to do in order to earn a World Grand Prix spot include Ronnie O’Sullivan (33rd), Ding Junhui (34th), Kyren Wilson (36th), Luca Brecel (59th) and Neil Robertson (80th).
On the official two-year list, Trump remains third with £869,000 but closes the gap on leader Ronnie O’Sullivan (£879,000) and second-placed Luca Brecel (£871,500). That sets up a battle for the world number one spot at the next ranking event, the International Championship in Tianjin, China which runs from November 5-12.
Wakelin is up four places to 21st, and is also now guaranteed a place in November’s Champion of Champions. Ding will take the 16th and last spot in that event unless a player not already qualified lands the title in Tianjin.
The International Championship is the last counting event in the race to qualify automatically for the MrQ UK Championship in York. Only the top 16 seeds will go through to the Barbican, with all other players heading for the qualifying rounds in Leicester. Ding is clinging on to 16th spot in that race but Ryan Day is just £3,000 behind, with several other players within striking distance.
And just two counting events remain in the Race to the 2024 Masters, with the top 16 at the end of the Mr Q UK Championship to earn a place at Alexandra Palace in January. Again it’s Ding in 16th, and he’s just £2,000 ahead of Hossein Vafaei.
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