Million Pound Mark
Reigning world champion Mark Selby has maintained his unbroken stranglehold at the top of snooker world rankings for nearly two years now, but could he become snooker’s first ‘rankings millionaire’ before the end of the season?
Heading into the ongoing Betway UK Championship, Selby’s ranking total sits at £827,942, with £3,000 due to drop off after the tournament from his last 64 run in York in 2014.
Already guaranteed to add at least £10,000 to his total following two wins this week, his provisional total of £834,942 is set to see him extend his lead over second placed Stuart Bingham to £316,013, with Ballrun already heading home following his 6-4 defeat to Yu Delu on Saturday evening. To put that into context, Selby’s lead alone is more than every player outside of the world’s top seven has earned over the last two-year period.
Having finished each of the last five seasons ranked as number one, Selby’s dominance on the ranking list is unquestioned, but what would he need to do to become the first player to pass the magical £1,000,000 mark on the official list?
Taking the title in York would see his total rise to £994,942, putting him within touching distance of a seven-figure total. Beyond the UK Championship his next points to defend (£66,667), come at the German Masters in February, where of course he won the title in 2015 to return to the rankings summit where he has remained ever since.
Beyond that event, he has a further £13,000 to be removed up until the start of April, where he will lose a further £85,000 following his China Open victory last year, as well as £20,000 which he earned with his last 16 run at the Crucible.
Although then he has a total of £184,667 to be removed from his ranking between now and the end of the season, with such a substantial total already, if he can earn £349,725 from the season’s remaining nine and a half ranking events then he will be guaranteed to reach the £1,000,000 mark.
He could however require a lot less, depending on the timing of the points drop-off dates and how they correspond to his prize money earned during the current season.
Do you think that he will do it? Let us know via Twitter @WPBSAofficial and Facebook /WPBSAofficial
Photograph courtesy of Ian Parker.
