Race to the World Grand Prix 2021
Following the conclusion of the Cazoo UK Championship later today there is just next week’s BetVictor Scottish Open still to be completed in the race to qualify for this season’s Cazoo World Grand Prix.
The event will return from 13-19 December 2021 and once again see 32 players contest the title with a top prize of £100,000 to be won in Coventry.
Who will qualify?
As was the case last season, the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list will qualify to play at the World Grand Prix.
This differs from the official two-year rolling list as the one-year ranking list includes only prize money earned since the start of this season at the 2021 Championship League, through to and including the BetVictor Scottish Open. This does NOT include prize money earned so far at the German Masters and European Masters qualifiers as the event will not be completed prior to the World Grand Prix.
This covers a total of six counting events, with the ongoing UK Championship representing the fifth to be completed ahead of the crucial seeding cut-off.
State of Play
In 2020 the all-important cut-off for the top 32 fell at £26,000 with Michael Holt taking the final position on countback and the position looks set to be relatively similar 12 months on.
With just the final stages of the Scottish Open still to be completed, the final qualifying position for 2021 is currently occupied by Zhou Yuelong, who has £24,000 to his name so far this season. The full live one-year rankings are available via WST.
At the time of writing (05/12), of the players ranked within the world’s top 32 on the official world ranking list, 11 are set to miss out on qualification as it stands, based on their prize money earned this season (current one-year positions in brackets):
- Xiao Guodong (36)
- Martin Gould (40)
- Lu Ning (41)*
- Graeme Dott (41)*
- Shaun Murphy (41)
- Ryan Day (57)
- Ding Junhui (61)
- Joe Perry (75)
- Scott Donaldson (85)
- Liang Wenbo (85)
- Kurt Maflin (134)*
The 11 lower-ranked players currently in position to qualify in their place are (current one-year positions in brackets):
- Luca Brecel (3)
- Jimmy Robertson (13)
- Mark King (13)
- Anthony Hamilton (18)
- Andy Hicks (19)
- Hossein Vafaei (21)
- Matt Selt (21)
- Cao Yupeng (23)*
- Noppon Saengkham (26)
- Jordan Brown (28)
- Ben Woollaston (30)
*already out of the Scottish Open
There is still much that can change, with little over £10,000 (equivalent to a quarter-final run next week) from 17th placed Stuart Bingham (£31,500) down to four players in tied 41st position (£20,000). With a first prize of £70,000 to be won there is all to play for right through the ranking list.
The Race to the World Grand Prix concludes with the BetVictor Scottish Open from Monday (6 December).
