Next week’s Hong Rui Ma Yushan World Open is the last counting event before the seeing cut off for the China Championship, European Masters and Shanghai Masters.

This season the Shanghai Masters becomes an invitation event for the first time so only the top 16  on the official two-year rankings qualify automatically, to be joined by the next four highest ranked Chinese players, and four Chinese amateurs. And with total prize money of £725,000 and a top prize of £200,000 up for grabs, it will be a lucrative event for those who qualify.

Heading into Yushan, Ryan Day is in 16th place in the latest provisional seedings, with a lead of £16,212 over 17th placed Marco Fu. So Hong Kong’s Fu – who would not count as one of the next four Chinese players – will need a deep run to challenge for a top 16 spot. With a top prize of £150,000 on offer in Yushan, there will be plenty of players with a chance of leaping into the elite.

Neil Robertson has taken an early lead on the one year ranking list thanks to his victory at the Kaspersky Riga Masters.

Robertson beat Jack Lisowski 5-2 in the final in Latvia on Sunday to win the 14th ranking title of his career, earning £50,000.

The one-year list will be used to determine the fields for the Ladbrokes Series later in the season. Only the top 32 will qualify automatically for the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix in Cheltenham (February 4-10), then the top 16 go on to the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Preston (March 4-10), and only the top eight will make it to the new Ladbrokes Tour Championship in Llandudno (March 19-24).

Lisowski is second on the list with £25,000 while Stuart Carrington made it to the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career and he sits third on £15,000, alongside Stephen Maguire.

Source- World Snooker