The dawn of the 2016/17 snooker season is nearly upon us with the first qualifying events of the new campaign set to be played at the end of the month.
As ever, the new season means new players and with one Q School event remaining it is time for my annual ‘roll call’ rounding up how all of the available professional places look set to be allocated.
Please note that this list is speculative, has not yet been officially announced by World Snooker and so is subject to change.
Updated 17/05/2016
For a full explanation of how the tour places are allocated, please see my previous article here.
The players currently confirmed to be on the main tour are as follows:
The Top 64 (64)
These players finished inside the top 64 on the two year money rankings and so will retain their place on the circuit as a result, with a one-year card.
End of season rankings:
- Mark Selby
- Stuart Bingham
- Judd Trump
- Shaun Murphy
- Neil Robertson
- John Higgins
- Mark Allen
- Ricky Walden
- Ding Junhui
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Joe Perry
- Marco Fu
- Mark Williams
- Barry Hawkins
- Martin Gould
- Kyren Wilson
- Liang Wenbo
- Stephen Maguire
- Michael White
- Alan McManus
- Robert Milkins
- David Gilbert
- Ryan Day
- Graeme Dott
- Matt Selt
- Mark Davis
- Ben Woollaston
- Anthony McGill
- Michael Holt
- Luca Brecel
- Peter Ebdon
- Ali Carter
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
- Jimmy Robertson
- Jamie Jones
- Mark King
- Mike Dunn
- Dominic Dale
- Jack Lisowski
- Fergal O’Brien
- Mark Joyce
- Gary Wilson
- Tom Ford
- Matthew Stevens
- Dechawat Poomjaeng
- Sam Baird
- Rod Lawler
- Tian Pengfei
- Rory McLeod
- Kurt Maflin
- Xiao Guodong
- Li Hang
- Joe Swail
- Zhou Yuelong
- Robbie Williams
- Andrew Higginson
- Ken Doherty
- Jamie Burnett
- Robin Hull
- David Grace
- Oliver Lines
- Ian Burns
- Yu Delu
- Stuart Carrington
The Two Year Cards (30)
These players competed on the main tour in 2015/16 and will start the 2016/17 season on the second year of their two-year tour cards.
Note that Vinnie Calabrese has resigned his membership and so is not included.
- Alfie Burden
- Martin O’Donnell
- Jamie Cope
- Ross Muir
- Noppon Saengkham
- Chris Wakelin
- Nigel Bond
- Daniel Wells
- Hossein Vafaei Ayouri
- Sean O’Sullivan
- Darryl Hill
- Rhys Clark
- Sanderson Lam
- Zhang Yong
- Paul Davison
- Sydney Wilson
- Hamza Akbar
- Michael Wild
- James Cahill
- Allan Taylor
- Gareth Allen
- Eden Sharav
- Jason Weston
- Fraser Patrick
- Duane Jones
- Jimmy White
- Igor Figueiredo
- Akani Songsermsawad
- Itaro Santos
- Hatem Yassen
European Order of Merit (8)
These are the top eight players on the 2015/16 European Order of Merit, not already qualified for the tour by finishing inside the top 64 on the main two year ranking list. They earn a fresh two-year tour card, starting on zero ranking points.
- Thor Chuan Leong
- Lee Walker
- Mitchell Mann
- Aditya Mehta
- Scott Donaldson
- Hammad Miah
- Anthony Hamilton
- Liam Highfield
Asian Order of Merit (2)
These are the top two players on the 2015/16 Asian Order of Merit, not already qualified for the tour by finishing inside the top 64 on the main two year ranking list. They earn a fresh two-year tour card, starting on zero ranking points.
- Zhang Anda
- Leo Fernandez
Q School (12)
A further 12 will be promoted from the Q School and again they will receive a two-year tour card.
- Cao Yupeng (2016 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Chen Zhe (2016 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Fang Xiongman (2016 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Christopher Keogan (2016 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- TBC (2016 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- TBC (2016 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- TBC (2016 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- TBC (2016 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- TBC (2016 Q School Order of Merit)
- TBC (2016 Q School Order of Merit)
- TBC (2016 Q School Order of Merit)
- TBC (2016 Q School Order of Merit)
EBSA Play-Offs (2)
Two more qualified via the EBSA Play-Offs at Ponds Forge last month. They will also earn a two-year card.
- Sam Craigie
- Elliot Slessor
International Nominations (9)
The remaining players come from a mix of other amateur/international competitions and again will earn a two-year card.
- Zhao Xintong (IBSF Nomination)
- Boonyarit Keattikun (2015 IBSF World Under 21 Champion)
- Jak Jones (2016 European Champion)
- Josh Boileau (2016 European U-21 Champion)
- Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (2016 Asian Champion)
- Wang Yuchen (2016 Asian U-21 Champion)
- TBC (Americas Nomination)
- Kurt Dunham (Oceania Nomination)
- TBC (Africa Nomination)
Others (2)
There are a final two players who will earn two-year cards. Note that as an invitational tour card holder, Wattana is only eligible to enter events with fewer than 128 main tour entries.
- Yan Bingtao (Tour card deferred from previous season)
- James Wattana (Invitational Tour Card holder)
