On October 24, 2022, Beijing time, with Mark Allen defeating Zhou Yuelong at the Northern Ireland Open, the new issue of snooker world rankings was released, and the winner Mark Allen rose to 9th, and Zhou Yuelong was still ranked 21st, and the next main goal was to hit the top 16. The highest ranking among Chinese players is still Zhao Xintong, who is in 8th place, Yan Bingtao, another seed, is ranked 15th, and Ding Junhui continues to decline and has now reached 38th.
In the final of the Northern Ireland Open, Mark Allen won eight consecutive sets after falling 4-1 and defeated Zhou Yuelong 9-4 to successfully defend his title. With this title, Mark Allen returned to the top 10 in the world, temporarily ranked 9th, and with Ryan Day's previous victory at the British Open, the top 16 in the world has changed significantly.
O'Sullivan remains ranked No. 1 in the world, Neil Robertson overtakes Trump to move up to No. 2, Trump falls to No. 3 and Mark Selby is No. 4. Places 5 to 16 are Higgins, Mark Williams, Karen Wilson, Xintong Zhao, Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel, Lisowski, Sean Murphy, Bingham, Yan Bingtao, Ryan Day.
The top 16 players above have become seeded players in the British Championship, and 75 three Je O'Sullivan, Higgins, Mark Williams are all among the top 6 in the world, which can be said to be old and strong, which is also where O'Sullivan is particularly helpless, because there is no new generation of players to challenge them. Zhao Xintong is still the top-ranked Chinese player, but his poor performance in the new season, with the British Championship facing the battle to defend his title, is particularly important for him. Another seeded player, Yan Bingtao, is also in average shape and needs to be adjusted.
With a runner-up finish at the Northern Ireland Open but still ranked 21st in the world, Zhou should have two goals next, continuing to win his first ranking tournament and trying to reach the top 16 in the world. In addition, Lu Ning, Xiao Guodong and others have climbed slightly, and Lu Haotian, who reached the quarterfinals in Northern Ireland, continued to climb, rising from 43rd to 36th. Li Xing rose from 47th to 40th, while Ding Junhui continued to decline, falling from 34th to 38th before the game, and falling four more places was helpless.
After the Northern Ireland Open, the line-up for the Champions League Invitational Tournament was also confirmed, with 16 players being: Trump , O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Higgins, Karen Wilson, Zhao Xintong, Mark Allen, Fan Zhengyi, Luca Brechel, Joe Perry, Ryan Day, Robert Milkins, Hussein Wafi, Wangharutai and Lee Walker. Judging from the lottery rules, Zhao Xintong may have a direct conversation with Neil Robertson in the second round!