The outcome of the battle for tour survival for the 2016/17 season has now been concluded following defeats for Zhang Anda and Mitchell Mann today at the Betfred World Championship.
Although the majority of players knew their fate following the qualifiers for the tournament held last week at Ponds Forge, there were still positions that could change depending on the progress of Zhang and Mann this week at the Crucible.
With both losing out however, the identity of the players who will finish inside the top 64 of the official world ranking list at the end of the season is now confirmed. Looking at the latest provisional list, Stuart Carrington is now assured of remaining in 64th position, his comeback victory against Hammad Miah in his first qualifying match proving to be crucial for him.
Although Carrington would have been safe via the European Order of Merit had Zhang Anda won today in Sheffield, he would have seen his ranking total reset to zero, whereas now he will retain his current total of £49,431 heading into next season.
European eight
We also now know who the eight players are who will gain a tour card via the European Order of Merit:
- Thor Chuan Leong – 5,925
- Lee Walker – 3,750
- Mitchell Mann – 3,675
- Aditya Mehta – 3,000
- Scott Donaldson – 2,775
- Hammad Miah – 2,700
- Anthony Hamilton – 2,325
- Liam Highfield – 2,250
These players are the highest finishing players on the European Order of Merit following event eight in Gdynia, who will not finish the season inside of the world’s top 64 on the official world ranking list.
Asian duo
We also know who the two players to qualify via the Asian Order of Merit will be:
- Zhang Anda
- Leo Fernandez
This could have changed depending upon Zhang’s progress at the Crucible, however his defeat to Barry Hawkins means that he will now re-qualify via the Asian list. He has also finished sufficiently high on the European Order of Merit, however takes his position from the Asian list due to chronological order.
Tour relegation
This means that the following players must now come through Q School if they are to remain on the professional tour for the 2016/17 season:
- Gerard Greene
- Craig Steadman
- David Morris
- Cao Yupeng
- Peter Lines
- Michael Georgiou
- Joel Walker
- Zak Surety
- Michael Wasley
- Barry Pinches
- Chris Melling
- Michael Leslie
- Tony Drago
- Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
- Lu Ning
- Steven Hallworth
- Ian Glover
- Lyu Chenwei
- Rouzi Maimaiti
- Ju Reti
- Liu Chuang
- Steve Mifsud
You can view the full list of players to have entered Q School here: http://www.worldsnookerqschool.com/order-of-merit
