Snooker's professional players have voted to keep the Coral Shoot Out tournament as a world ranking event.

Last month the one-frame knock out event was made a ranking event for the first time, with Anthony McGill winning the £32,000 top prize in Watford. World Snooker subsequently asked all tour players to vote on whether the ITV-televised tournament should remain as a ranking event or be removed from the calendar. Of the 125 players who voted, 90 voted to keep the Shoot Out as a ranking event, and 35 voted to remove it. World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: ''I am very pleased with the result of the vote, with 72% of tour players voting in favour. The Shoot Out will go ahead as a full ranking event in 2018, and following that we will evaluate its commercial success, as we would for any other tournament.''