Tour Survival Rules end 2022-23

Ten players are currently suspended whilst the match-fixing allegations run their course.

Zhao Jianbo is not on the main tour, Bai Langning is in the first year of his two-year tour card, and five other suspended players are outside the top 64 and will thus be relegated from the tour.

In contrast Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao will finish the season comfortably inside the top 64 whilst Lu Ning, currently 59th on the provisional end-season list 14500 ahead of 65th and 66th placed Hammad Miah and Mark Joyce, is probably a better than even shot to also finish above the line.

Meanwhile Hammad Miah and Xu Si, currently placed to survive on the tour thanks to the one-year list, are both inside the top 64 if all the suspended players are excluded from calculations.

WST have their hands tied to some extent by the presumption of innocence - they cannot pre-empt the results of the investigation. Nevertheless all tour players deserve clarity before World Championship qualifying begins.

How will WST handle the survival rules if one or all of Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao and Lu Ning are suspended for a period terminating before end of 2023-24, or extending beyond that time. Will the 64 retaining a one-year card be 1-64 or 1-64 excluding suspended players? Will those professionals in competition for a new two-year card from the one-year list be those placed 65 and below, or 65 and below excluding suspended players?

They really need to increase the UK Q School allocation.

There will indeed be 4 extra places due to the 4 suspended players who won't actually be relegated until 2024. If only the top 61 or 62 unbanned players survive the cut, then those that miss out will end up at Q School, that's why the places should come from there.

I went to see Q School last year. There were many very strong players, playing horribly due to the enormous pressure they were under. I dubbed it The Raft of the Medusa. To cut the number of places from 12 to 8 is shocking. It's important we get the best players on tour, and the top-up system should only come into play as a last resort, because of unforeseeable withdrawals. All of this is forseeable.