Ronnie O’Sullivan to return to world No. 1 spot as World Championship top 16 confirmed
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Published 27/03/2022 at 20:18 GMT
The World Championship is looming large on the horizon and the top 16 automatic qualifiers for the Crucible have been confirmed. Yan Bingtao can breathe a sigh of relief as his decision not to play the Gibraltar Open was not costly. The rankings also mean that Ronnie O'Sullivan is set to return to the No. 1 spot.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Image credit: Getty Images
The top 16 for the World Championship has been confirmed, with Yan Bingtao’s gamble of not playing at the Gibraltar Open paying off as he will not have to qualify, while Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to return to the World No. 1 spot.
The Gibraltar Open was the final event which could impact on who made it through to the Crucible, and who was forced to go through qualifying.
There were a couple of players on the wire, Yan being the most notable. Ricky Walden had a shot at overhauling the former Masters champion, but his defeat to Kyren Wilson at the semi-final stage ended his hopes.
The top 16 for the Crucible is now locked in, with defending champion and current world No. 1 Mark Selby seeded one for Sheffield.
O’Sullivan will be in the other half of the draw to Selby, as he will go into the World Championship as the No. 2 seed.
The Rocket will also arrive in Sheffield as the world No. 1 as he will overtake Selby at the end of next week’s Tour Championship irrespective of the results in Llandudno.
It will be the fifth occasion in O’Sullivan’s career that he will be world No. 1, and first time since 2019.
Robert Milkins claimed a stunning victory in Gibraltar and he was the big mover on the rankings list, as he climbed from 43 to 28.
World Championship qualifiers (places subject to change following Tour Championship)
- Mark Selby
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Judd Trump
- Neil Robertson
- Kyren Wilson
- John Higgins
- Zhao Xintong
- Mark Williams
- Barry Hawkins
- Shaun Murphy
- Anthony McGill
- Stuart Bingham
- Jack Lisowski
- Luca Brecel
- Mark Allen
- Yan Bingtao
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