Holt won his first ranking title, 24 years after turning pro

This week’s event and the BetVictor Gibraltar Open are the last two counting events in the race to qualify for the last event of the 2020 Coral Series. Only the top eight on the one-year ranking list will then go through to the Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno (March 17-22).

Michael Holt won the BetVictor Shoot Out on Sunday, beating Zhou Yuelong in the final, and the £50,000 prize boosted him from 31st to 16th on the list, earning him a last-gasp place in Southport.

John Higgins is eighth on the list with £143,500, with Graeme Dott in ninth with £136,250 and Holt 16th with £102,000. With a top prize of £125,000 up for grabs in Southport, those ranked ninth to 16th have the opportunity to jump into the top eight.

Zhou’s £20,000 lifts him from 20th to 17th with £100,250 but he would not climb into the top eight even with the £50,000 first prize in Gibraltar.

As it stands there are three players inside the top eight of the one-year list who are outside the top eight of the official two-year list: Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao.

Holt jumps from 41st to 26th on the two-year list and has almost certainly booked a debut appearance at the Champion of Champions in November.

If Zhou had won the Shoot-Out he would have brought himself into the battle to win the £150,000 bonus which will go to the player who wins the most money across the four BetVictor European Series events. Instead, that battle will be settled between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson in Gibraltar (if they both enter), with Trump needing to win the title to land the bonus, otherwise, it will go to Robertson.

There are just three events to go in the Race to the Crucible – with Ali Carter currently in 16th spot, £12,500 ahead of 17th-placed Joe Perry.

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Source: World Snooker