Time to scrap half of the pro players?

If you check out the 129 player rankings - half or more never make it to the final-ish stages of most events.

http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?template=31

I'd welcome a dramatic change to the rankings system. Scrap the 129 players format and have 70 professional players.

The top 50 players participate in the A league. This main league would be all the current ranking/invitational events.

The remaining 20 players participate compete in the B league. The prize money would be less than in the A league but hopefully decent enough to give the players an incentive to continue in the game. If the players earn enough ranking points they can qualify for the A league. At the end of each season, five players - the top five players in the B league - enter the A league. This would mean the five lowest players in the main league - players ranked 46 - 50 - would drop out. Promotion and demotion (similar to the football league).

I'd also scrap the prize ranking system. World rankings would revert back to points won in matches, not based on prize money.

Less players in the sport would make it more competitive perhaps? If you want to become a top player you have to be of a high standard. I don't see much point in a 129 player format if half or so never achieve anything in the game. Barry Hearn has done a lot for the game - much more events and prize money - but he's not streamlined the amount of players on the tour. Half of the players on the tour are not event worthy. Harsh, I know, but it's just a fact.

I don't think a B league would attract enough money or interest to be a viable thing, but there is too much of a difference between the top 64 and everyone else.

If it was to keep to 128 I'd like to see a mix of seeded and flat draws, for all Hearn's talk of brutal snooker the two tournaments with the most money do favour the top 16.