On February 14, 2022, Beijing time, with the end of the Snooker Players Championship, a new world ranking was released. Two Chinese players ranked in the top 16, Zhao Xintong rose to 7th, setting a new career height, Yan Bingtao ranked 13th, and the next main task is to storm the Tour Championship seat. As Jimmy Robertson reached the final four and improved his ranking, Ding Junhui fell out of the top 30 and is currently only ranked 31st.
The two Chinese players competed in the Players' Championship, both of which lost to Barry Hawkins, with top seed Zhao Xintong out in the first round and Yan Bingtao losing in the second round. Although the two have average results in this competition, the world ranking is still very high. Zhao Xintong ranked 7th, which is a new height in his career and getting closer and closer to Higgins.
Yan Bingtao ranked 13th, although the gap between Bingham, McGill and Brechel behind him was very small, but the gap between Lisovsky, who ranked 17th, was relatively large, and in a short period of time, Yan Bingtao could rank in the top 16.
Next, Yan Bingtao's main task is to attack the top 8 places in a single season, so as to get a place in the Tour Championship. Currently, Barry Hawkins, Rich Wharton, Yan Bingtao, David Gilbert, Hussein Wafi are all strong contenders for the top 8 in a single season, and each of the next games is particularly important.
In any case, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao attracted more and more attention, and they used their strength to conquer opponents and British audiences. The winning Neil Robertson also mentioned these two young talents after the game, who slowly became the protagonists of the snooker stage and the future is worth looking forward to.
In contrast, Ding Junhui's ranking has once again slipped, because Hussein Wafi, Jimmy Robertson and others have performed well in recent times, especially Jimmy Robertson's final four in the Players Championship, which has greatly improved his world ranking, while Ding Junhui has dropped one place again, falling out of the top 30.
Next, Ding Junhui will play in the Welsh Open qualifiers, hoping that he can seize the opportunity to work hard to improve his ranking and fight for a more favorable position for the World Championship at the end of the season.
After the end of the Players Tournament, there is not much change in the top six in the world, followed by Selby, O'Sullivan, Trump, Neil Robertson, Karen Wilson and Higgins, O'Sullivan and Trump have the possibility of returning to the world number one in a short period of time, and the next competition will be more intense!