Following the conclusion of this year’s Q School event last weekend which saw a further eight main tour places confirmed for next season, we are now little over a week away from the start of the 2017/18 season and the 2017 Kaspersky Riga Masters qualifiers in Preston.
With some players having dropped off and others joining (or indeed re-joining) the tour, it is time for my annual look at who is set to be on tour for the season ahead.
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 of the official world ranking list at the end of last season and so will retain their places on the circuit, with a one-year card.
End of season rankings:
- Mark Selby
- John Higgins
- Judd Trump
- Ding Junhui
- Barry Hawkins
- Marco Fu
- Neil Robertson
- Shaun Murphy
- Stuart Bingham
- Mark Allen
- Liang Wenbo
- Ali Carter
- Kyren Wilson
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Mark Williams
- Martin Gould
- Anthony McGill
- Ryan Day
- David Gilbert
- Mark King
- Ricky Walden
- Joe Perry
- Michael Holt
- Stephen Maguire
- Anthony Hamilton
- Michael White
- Luca Brecel
- Ben Woollaston
- Alan McManus
- Graeme Dott
- Tom Ford
- Zhou Yuelong
- Dominic Dale
- Matt Selt
- Robert Milkins
- Jamie Jones
- Mark Davis
- Jimmy Robertson
- Xiao Guodong
- Peter Ebdon
- Rory McLeod
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
- Mike Dunn
- David Grace
- Fergal O’Brien
- Stuart Carrington
- Yu Delu
- Mark Joyce
- Andrew Higginson
- Tian Pengfei
- Sam Baird
- Kurt Maflin
- Robbie Williams
- Jack Lisowski
- Matthew Stevens
- Yan Bingtao
- Gary Wilson
- Li Hang
- Hossein Vafaei
- Oliver Lines
- Alfie Burden
- Daniel Wells
- Chris Wakelin
- Noppon Saengkham
The Two Year Cards (31)
These players competed on the main tour in 2016/17 and will start the 2017/18 season on the second year of their two-year tour cards.
Note that Rouzi Maimaiti has not taken up his second year and so is not included.
- Scott Donaldson
- John Astley
- Zhang Anda
- Liam Highfield
- Lee Walker
- Mei Xiwen
- Hammad Miah
- Zhao Xintong
- Michael Georgiou
- Mitchell Mann
- Sam Craigie
- Jak Jones
- Aditya Mehta
- Ian Preece
- Fang Xiongman
- Wang Yuchen
- Craig Steadman
- Alex Borg
- Thor Chuan Leong
- Elliot Slessor
- Adam Duffy
- Josh Boileau
- Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
- Cao Yupeng
- Christopher Keogan
- Boonyarit Keattikun
- Jamie Curtis-Barrett
- Chen Zhe
- Kurt Dunham
- David John
- Leo Fernandez
The Top Eight (One-Year Ranking list) (8)
The top eight players on the one-year ranking list, not already inside of the top 64 of the two-year ranking list or on the first year of a two-year card, have earned a tour card for the 2017/18 season. They earn a fresh two-year tour card, starting on zero ranking points.
- Akani Songsermsawad
- Rhys Clark
- Robin Hull
- Rod Lawler
- Ross Muir
- Nigel Bond
- Eden Sharav
- Ian Burns
Q School (12)
A further 12 will be promoted from the Q School and again they will receive a two-year tour card.
- Lukas Kleckers (2017 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Allan Taylor (2017 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Ashley Hugill (2017 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Billy Joe Castle (2017 Q School Event One semi-finalist)
- Sanderson Lam (2017 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- Duane Jones (2017 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- Chen Zifan (2017 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- Paul Davison (2017 Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
- Zhang Yong (2017 Q School Order of Merit)
- Sean O’Sullivan (2017 Q School Order of Merit)
- Joe Swail (2017 Q School Order of Merit)
- Martin O’Donnell (2017 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.
- Gerard Greene
- Peter Lines
China Tour Nominations (2)
Two players have qualified via the CBSA China Tour. They earn a fresh two-year tour cards.
- Li Yuan
- Niu Zhuang
International Nominations (9)
The remaining players come from a mix of other amateur/international competitions and again will earn a two-year card.
- Soheil Vahedi (IBSF champion)
- Xu Si (IBSF under 21 champion)
- Chris Totten (EBSA champion)
- Alexander Ursenbacher (EBSA u-21 champion)
- Lyu Haotian (ACBS champion)
- Yuan Sijun (ACBS u-21 champion)
- Hamza Akbar (Special dispensation in place of Americas Nomination)
- Matthew Bolton (Oceania champion)
- TBC (Africa Nomination)
Invitational Tour Cards (3)
There are a further three players who will be able to play having been awarded invitational tour cards. Note that as invitational tour card holders, there players are only eligible to enter events where there are sufficient spaces subject to main tour entries.
- Jimmy White (FIRST year of a two-year invitational tour card)
- Ken Doherty (FIRST year of a two-year invitational tour card)
- James Wattana (SECOND year of a two-year invitational tour card)
These players will be seeded after main tour professionals, but above amateur top ups taken from the Q School ranking list.
