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Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby badtemperedcyril

Interesting when you look further down the rankings, there’s a sprinkling of great names who graced the English Amateur Championships in the 1950’s and 60’s. The likes of Pat Houlihan, Cliff Wilson, Maurice Parkin, Marcus Owen, George Scott, John Dunning, Ray Edmonds, Jack Fitzmaurice, Doug French...
Clearly they were well past their best but nonetheless were trying to make up for lost time and be a part of the new snooker boom. If only they’d had the same opportunities 20 or 30 years earlier!

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

badtemperedcyril wrote:Interesting when you look further down the rankings, there’s a sprinkling of great names who graced the English Amateur Championships in the 1950’s and 60’s. The likes of Pat Houlihan, Cliff Wilson, Maurice Parkin, Marcus Owen, George Scott, John Dunning, Ray Edmonds, Jack Fitzmaurice, Doug French...
Clearly they were well past their best but nonetheless were trying to make up for lost time and be a part of the new snooker boom. If only they’d had the same opportunities 20 or 30 years earlier!

Wilson, Scott and Fitzmaurice are still winning matches in this 85-86 season, aged 51, 57 and 57 (as is 72 year old Fred Davis by the way). Cliff Wilson, a relative youngster, is still in or around the top 32. Fitzmaurice, who rarely won before '85, is having something of a renaissance.
Edmonds is doing ok. Houlihan is mostly losing, but can get the odd win.
The others have stopped playing, but hold a ranking from matches played in the last two years.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Going into the 1985 UK Championship, the top 4 in the rankings are fairly cemented in place. It would take something extraordinary to alter: 1 Davis; 2 Taylor; 3 Thorburn; 4 White.
5 and 6, Knowles and Stevens, are some distance from the top four, but quite far ahead of the chasing pack, led by S Francisco in 7th.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

So here are the results of the 1985 UK Championship from the last 16 onwards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_UK_Championship

The big suprise of the tournament was new professional Barry West (aged 27), reaching the quarter-final.
World number 11 Willie Thorne upset the odds to beat Dennis Taylor in the semi-final, jumping up to 5th as a result.
No one will be surprised with Steve Davis picking up the trophy, but Thorne pushed him close in the final, going 13-8 up before missing a simple blue to get within two frames of victory.

Last 16:
S Davis (1) 9-5 Meo (14)
West (101) 9-4 MacLeod (37)
White (4) 9-6 Higgins (9)
Knowles (5) 9-7 David Taylor (26)
Thorne (11) 9-7 Thorburn (3)
Griffiths (13) 9-5 S Francisco (7)
Stevens (6) 9-7 Rex Williams (23)
Dennis Taylor (2) 9-2 Graham Cripsey (62)

QFs:
Davis (1) 9-1 West (101)
White (4) 9-4 Knowles (5)
Thorne (11) 9-7 Griffiths (13)
Taylor (2) 9-1 Stevens (6)

SFs
Davis (1) 9-5 White (4)
Thorne (11) 9-7 Taylor (2)

Final:
Davis (1) 16-14 Thorne (11)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

KrazeeEyezKilla wrote:Good to see an American getting onto the tour. I predict that by 2000 half the Top 16 will be from the US.

:goodpost:

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby badtemperedcyril

chengdufan wrote:
badtemperedcyril wrote:Interesting when you look further down the rankings, there’s a sprinkling of great names who graced the English Amateur Championships in the 1950’s and 60’s. The likes of Pat Houlihan, Cliff Wilson, Maurice Parkin, Marcus Owen, George Scott, John Dunning, Ray Edmonds, Jack Fitzmaurice, Doug French...
Clearly they were well past their best but nonetheless were trying to make up for lost time and be a part of the new snooker boom. If only they’d had the same opportunities 20 or 30 years earlier!

Wilson, Scott and Fitzmaurice are still winning matches in this 85-86 season, aged 51, 57 and 57 (as is 72 year old Fred Davis by the way). Cliff Wilson, a relative youngster, is still in or around the top 32. Fitzmaurice, who rarely won before '85, is having something of a renaissance.
Edmonds is doing ok. Houlihan is mostly losing, but can get the odd win.
The others have stopped playing, but hold a ranking from matches played in the last two years.
George Scott, proprietor of the George Scott Snooker Centre in Liverpool, was, by all accounts, something of a legend on the Mersey. I recall he knocked Reardon out of the Grand Prix around this time, before losing to Wilson. Looking back in magazines at the results from the English Amateur (Northern Section) in the 60's, George Scott was always prominent but was up against some great players, like John Spencer, David Taylor, Sid Hood and Ray Edmonds.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

Very little footage of Cliff Wilson on YouTube, but highlights of his match with George Scott is on there, & is well worth a watch <ok>

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

We go back to Warrington for the 1986 Classic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Classic_(snooker)

Jimmy beat Cliff T on the final black for his first ranking title!

52 year-old Rex Williams reached the semi-finals, and in doing so regained his top-16 place, rising to 14th.
Doug Mountjoy also excelled and made the semis. He rises to 18th in the rankings, with just one more event to go before the World Championship.

QFs:
Mountjoy (31) 5-3 N Foulds (12)
Thorburn (3) 5-4 Johnson (15)
White (4) 5-2 S Davis (1)
Williams (17) 5-2 Higgins (8)

SFs:
Thorburn (3) 9-6 Mountjoy (31)
White (4) 9-7 Williams (17)

Final:
White (4) 13-12 Thorburn (3)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_British_Open

The 1986 British Open in Derby was a good event for two Canadians. Not the usual Thorburn and Stevens though, who were both knocked out in the last 16.
Bill Werbeniuk and Jim Wych showed some form in this event, both reaching the quarter-finals despite their low rankings of 59 and 52.

Defending world champion Dennis Taylor had a second consecutive poor tournament. This time losing to Roger Bales in the last 64. He keeps his number 2 ranking though, with neither Thorburn nor White doing damage in this event.

QFs:
Thorne (5) 5-4 Griffiths (11)
Virgo (27) 5-3 Meo (12)
Higgins (8) 5-1 Werbeniuk (59)
S Davis (1) 5-2 Wych (52)

SFs:
Thorne (5) 9-4 Virgo (27)
Davis (1) 9-3 Higgins (8)

Final:
Davis (1) 12-7 Thorne (5)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The top 16 going into the 1986 World Championship is as follows:

1. Steve Davis
2. Dennis Taylor
3. Cliff Thorburn
4. Jimmy White
5. Willie Thorne
6. Tony Knowles
7. Alex Higgins
8. Kirk Stevens
9. Terry Griffiths
10. Neal Foulds
11. Silvino Francisco
12. Tony Meo
13. Rex Williams
14. John Parrott
15. Joe Johnson
16. Ray Reardon

And here is the draw for the first round, with the seeded players on the left. Chengdufan rankings in brackets:
Dennis Taylor (2) v Hallett (29=)
Johnson (15) v Dave Martin (38)
Higgins (7) v Spencer (65)
Griffiths (9) v Fowler (26)
Stevens (8) v Reynolds (34)
Charlton (41) v C Wilson (40)
S Francisco (11) v R Williams (13)
Knowles (6) v Foulds (10)
Thorburn (3) v Werbeniuk (44)
David Taylor (23) v Hughes (27)
Thorne (5) v Hendry (84)
Reardon (16) v Campbell (29=)
White (4) v Virgo (17)
Meo (12) v Parrott (14)
Mountjoy (20) v Mans (89)
S Davis (1) v Edmonds (43)

All of the top 16 have qualified.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1986 World Championship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Worl ... ampionship

Last 32:
Dennis Taylor (2) 6-10 Hallett (29=)
Johnson (15) 10-3 Dave Martin (38)
Higgins (7) 10-7 Spencer (65)
Griffiths (9) 10-2 Fowler (26)
Stevens (8) 10-6 Reynolds (34)
Charlton (41) 10-6 C Wilson (40)
S Francisco (11) 10-4 R Williams (13)
Knowles (6) 10-9 Foulds (10)
Thorburn (3) 10-5 Werbeniuk (44)
David Taylor (23) 7-10 Hughes (27)
Thorne (5) 10-8 Hendry (84)
Reardon (16) 8-10 Campbell (29=)
White (4) 10-7 Virgo (17)
Meo (12) 4-10 Parrott (14)
Mountjoy (20) 10-3 Mans (89)
S Davis (1) 10-4 Edmonds (43)

Last 16:
Johnson (15) 13-6 Hallett (29)
Griffiths (9) 13-12 Higgins (7)
Stevens (8) 13-12 Charlton (41)
Knowles (6) 13-10 Francisco (11)
Thorburn (3) 13-6 Hughes (27)
Thorne (5) 13-9 Campbell (29)
White (4) 13-8 Parrott (14)
Davis (1) 13-5 Mountjoy (20)

QFs:
Johnson (15) 13-12 Griffiths (9)
Knowles (6) 13-9 Stevens (8)
Thorburn (3) 13-6 Thorne (5)
Davis (1) 13-5 White (4)

SFs:
Johnson (15) 16-8 Knowles (6)
Davis (1) 16-12 Thorburn (3)

Final:
Johnson (15) 18-12 Davis (1)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Following Joe Johnson's World Championship win, he jumps to 6th in the rankings.
Davis keeps top spot, while after a run of poor results, 1985 World Champion Dennis Taylor drops to 5th.

There's one change in the make-up of the top 16. 53 year-old Ray Reardon drops out for the first time and is replaced by John Virgo, who sneaks in at number 16.

This championship was Stephen Hendry's first run in a ranking event. He won 4 close qualifying matches:10-7, 10-9, 10-8, 10-9, before falling to world number 5 Willie Thorne in the last 32. This good run moves him up from 84 to 44.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here's the full ranking list at the end of the 1985-86 season:

1 Steve Davis 30032
2 Cliff Thorburn 19647
3 Jimmy White 17147
4 Willie Thorne 15362
5 Dennis Taylor 14966
6 Joe Johnson 12747
7 Tony Knowles 12460
8 Alex Higgins 11026
9 Kirk Stevens 10900
10 Terry Griffiths 10708
11 Neal Foulds 8615
12 Silvino Francisco 8171
13 John Parrott 8129
14 Rex Williams 7759
15 Tony Meo 7401
16 John Virgo 6700
17 Peter Francisco 6473
18 Doug Mountjoy 6128
19 Mike Hallett 5939
20 John Campbell 5887
21 Ray Reardon 5638
22 Tony Jones 5549
23 Danny Fowler 5501
24 Eugene Hughes 5371
25 Steve Newbury 5290
26 Steve Longworth 5244
27 Jim Wych 5039
28 Murdo MacLeod 5002
29 Warren King 4928
30 Eddie Charlton 4828
31 Ray Edmonds 4746
32 David Taylor 4596
33 Marcel Gauvreau 4581
34 Barry West 4559
35 Dean Reynolds 4477
36 Paul Medati 4337
37 Bill Werbeniuk 4317
38 Wayne Jones 4312
39 Malcolm Bradley 4158
40 Cliff Wilson 4132
41 Dave Martin 4020
42 Tony Chappel 3765
43 Tommy Murphy 3743
44 Stephen Hendry 3733
45 Dene O'Kane 3615
46 Bob Chaperon 3421
47 Paddy Browne 3412
48 Roger Bales 3409
49 Patsy Fagan 3393
50 John Spencer 3290
51 Steve Duggan 3289
52 Graham Miles 3226
53 Robby Foldvari 3215
54 Les Dodd 3194
55 Graham Cripsey 3193
56 Jack McLaughlin 3127
57 Fred Davis 3119
58 Jimmy van Rensberg 3077
59 George Scott 2964
60 Tony Drago 2922
61 John Rea 2860
62 Dave Gilbert 2857
63 Joe O'Boye 2844
64 Bob Harris 2765
65 Bernie Mikkelsen 2738
66 Mario Morra 2698
67 Matt Gibson 2690
68 Vic Harris 2482
69 Geoff Foulds 2402
70 Jim Donnelly 2390
71 Gino Rigitano 2324
72 Eddie Sinclair 2220
73 Bill Oliver 2083
74 Ian Williamson 2017
75 Mark Wildman 2012
76 Sakchai Sim Ngam 2008
77 Colin Roscoe 1979
78 Perrie Mans 1931
79 John Hargreaves 1910
80 Ian Black 1863
81 Tony Kearney 1840
82 Jack Fitzmaurice 1823
83 Dessie Sheehan 1714
84 Mike Darrington 1693
85 Paul Watchorn 1666
86 Eddie McLaughlin 1624
87 Jim Bear 1576
88 Omprakash Agrawal 1530
89 Dennis Hughes 1477
90 Frank Jonik 1436
91 Pat Houlihan 1350
92 Mike Watterson 1346
93 Dave Chalmers 1306
94 Pascal Burke 1299
95 Martin Smith 1276
96 Mick Fisher 1267
97 Billy Kelly 1160
98 Jim Meadowcroft 1064
99 Glen Wilkinson 970
100 Greg Jenkins 901
101 Paul Thornley 853
102 David Greaves 788
103 John Dunning 754
104 Bert Demarco 661
105 Paul Mifsud 659
106 Roy Andrewartha 654
107 Mike Hines 646
108 Paddy Morgan 510
108 Bernard Bennett 510
110 Clive Everton 508
111 Derek Mienie 472
111 Doug French 472
113 Ian Anderson 455
114 Maurice Parkin 450
115 James Giannaros 425
116 Gerry Watson 422
117 Robbie Grace 404
118 Jackie Rea 278
119 Joe Cagianello 272
120 Wayne Sanderson 182
121 Jim Rempe 159
122 Leon Heywood 79
123 George Ganim 39

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

We've had 28 ranking events so far. Here are the winners:

Ray Reardon 5 ('74 WC; '75 WC; '76 WC; '78 WC; '82 PPT)
John Spencer 1 ('77 WC)
Terry Griffiths 1 ('79 WC)
Cliff Thorburn 2 ('80 WC; '85 MT)
Steve Davis 10 ('81 WC; '83 WC; '83 IO; '84 Cl; '84 WC; '84 IO; '84 UK; '85 GP; '85 UK; '86 BO)
Alex Higgins 1 ('82 WC)
Tony Knowles 2 ('82 IO; '83 PPT)
Dennis Taylor 2 ('84 GP; '85 WC)
Willie Thorne 1 ('85 Cl)
Silvino Francisco 1 ('85 BO)
Jimmy White 1 ('86 Cl)
Joe Johnson 1 ('86 WC)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The rankings have been revised following the conclusion of each ranking event and the following players have held the no.1 spot so far:

Ray Reardon 25/04/74-29/04/77

John Spencer 30/04/77-28/04/78

Ray Reardon 29/04/78-27/04/79

Terry Griffiths 28/04/79-04/05/80

Alex Higgins 05/05/80-20/04/81

Steve Davis 21/04/81-15/05/82

Ray Reardon 16/05/82-01/05/83

Tony Knowles 02/05/83-08/10/83

Steve Davis 09/10/83-20/10/83

Tony Knowles 21/10/83-14/01/84

Steve Davis 15/01/84-present (05/05/86)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1986-87 season had six ranking events, and we start with the 1986 International Open in Stoke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_International_Open

This event had a family theme, with Peter Francisco defeating his uncle Silvino, and Neal Foulds beating his dad Geoff. Neal would go on to win his first (and only) ranking title.

Following the event, Peter Francisco and Eugene Hughes (who knocked out Steve Davis) enter the top 16, at the expense of Tony Meo and John Virgo.
Neal Foulds moves up from 11th to 8th.
Stephen Hendry jumped another 12 spots, up to 32nd.

QFs:
Thorburn (2) 5-1 C Wilson (40)
P Francisco (17) 5-3 S Francisco (12)
Hughes (24) 5-4 S Davis (1)
Foulds (11) 5-3 Reynolds (35)

SFs:
Thorburn (2) 9-7 Francisco (17)
Foulds (11) 9-8 Hughes (24)

Final:
Foulds (11) 12-9 Thorburn (2)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

In the 1986 Grand Prix, 53 year-old Rex Williams reached his only ranking event final, in which he was defeated by Jimmy White. He earned his place in the final by beating Steve Davis in the quarters, and recent ranking event winner Neal Foulds in the semis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Grand_Prix_(snooker)

Following the event, Rex moves up the rankings from 14th to 10th. Tony Meo regains his top 16 spot, while Eugene Hughes drops out.
Hendry is now up to 18th, after reaching the quarter-finals.

Joe O'Boye caused a big upset by knocking out Cliff Thorburn in the last 64. Paddy Browne also had a good event, reaching the last 16 and moving up the rankings from 61st to 45th.

Steve Davis continues to remain well ahead of the pack at number 1. Although Jimmy (now on 15474 pts) closed the gap to number 1 and 2 (Thorburn) by over 2000 points, he remains in third, around 3000 points behind Thorburn (18572) and over 9000 points behind Davis (24743).

QFs:
Williams (14) 5-1 Davis (1)
Foulds (8) 5-3 Meo (17)
S Francisco (13) 5-2 Knowles (5)
White (3) 5-4 Hendry (32)

SFs:
Williams (14) 9-8 Foulds (8)
White (3) 9-6 Francisco (13)

Final:
White (3) 10-6 Williams (14)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby Wildey

chengdufan wrote:Here's the link to the 84 WC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Worl ... ampionship

And here are the full rankings at the end of the 1983-84 season:
1 Steve Davis 15526
2 Jimmy White 8531
3 Kirk Stevens 7871
4 Cliff Thorburn 7582
5 Tony Knowles 7505
6 Terry Griffiths 6991
7 Tony Meo 6674
8 John Parrott 5929
9 Willie Thorne 5914
10 Dennis Taylor 5657
11 Eddie Charlton 4999
12 Joe Johnson 4799
13 Ray Reardon 4630
14 Silvino Francisco 4466
15 Doug Mountjoy 3884
16 John Spencer 3772
17 Mark Wildman 3761
18 Rex Williams 3529
19 Mario Morra 3428
20 Mike Hallett 3425
21 David Taylor 3325
22 Bill Werbeniuk 3151
23 Eugene Hughes 3075
24 Alex Higgins 3046
25 Neal Foulds 3042
26 Warren King 2720
27 John Virgo 2515
28 Cliff Wilson 2455
29 John Campbell 2430
30 Jim Wych 2318
31 Jim Donnelly 2289
32 Dave Martin 2268
33 Mike Watterson 2265
34 Eddie McLaughlin 2262
35 Eddie Sinclair 2133
36 Mick Fisher 2100
37 Ray Edmonds 2069
38 Roy Andrewartha 2048
39 Dean Reynolds 2030
40 Ian Williamson 1967
41 Tommy Murphy 1925
42 Paddy Morgan 1899
43 Marcel Gauvreau 1866
44 Paul Mifsud 1856
45 George Scott 1847
46 Colin Roscoe 1842
47 Murdo MacLeod 1797
48 Graham Miles 1732
49 Bill Oliver 1724
50 Pascal Burke 1718
51 Les Dodd 1625
52 Matt Gibson 1580
53 Jim Meadowcroft 1488
54 Paul Medati 1416
55 Graham Cripsey 1188
56 Fred Davis 1184
57 Tony Jones 1126
58 Frank Jonik 1103
59 Paddy Browne 1090
60 Bob Harris 1083
61 Bernie Mikkelsen 1058
62 Perrie Mans 1038
63 Billy Kelly 989
64 Steve Duggan 988
65 Geoff Foulds 964
66 Ian Black 948
67 Patsy Fagan 896
68 Jimmy van Rensberg 892
69 Bert Demarco 869
70 Doug French 864
71 Ian Anderson 817
72 George Ganim 781
73 John Dunning 771
74 Jack Fitzmaurice 768
75 Wayne Sanderson 728
76 Paul Watchorn 690
77 Mike Darrington 662
78 Bernard Bennett 661
79 John Hargreaves 628
80 Pat Houlihan 624
81 Mike Hines 608
82 Joe Cagianello 608
83 Dessie Sheehan 604
84 Vic Harris 544
85 John Bear 528
86 Dennis Hughes 516
87 David Greaves 450
88 Jackie Rea 385
89 Clive Everton 324
90 Paul Thornley 288
91 Leon Heywood 252
92 Gino Rigitano 252
93 Marcus Owen 232.5
94 Maurice Parkin 214
95 Gerry Watson 128
96 James Giannaros 36
97 Sid Hood 20
98 Roy Amdor 10
99 Derek Mienie 5


yea but this has to be seriously Flawed to have Mario Morra at no 19 he made just 3 last 32 in his career and 1 of them was 5 years after this season.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Wildey wrote:yea but this has to be seriously Flawed to have Mario Morra at no 19 he made just 3 last 32 in his career and 1 of them was 5 years after this season.


The rankings were definitely flawed at that point in history, as there were only 7 events contributing to them over a 2-year period.
Based on those 7 events though, Morra earned his spot at 19, largely due to his runs at the 1983 International Open and the 1984 World Championship.

'83 IO:
R1: Morra 5-3 Watchorn
L48: Morra 5-3 Hallett
L32: Morra 5-3 J White
L16 Morra 3-5 Charlton

'84 WC:
L96: Morra 10-2 G Foulds
L64: Morra 10-5 T Murphy
L48: Morra 10-7 D Reynolds
L32: Morra 3-10 Thorburn

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

I saw him a few times. Glasses, a bowl haircut from the 60s, an all-white suit and VERY big flares, are what I remember & he was quite diminutive size-wise.

Still very active in Canada, on the pool circuit, as is his son John so there’s quite a bit of info (& pics) for both online.

Mario looks quite different now, like an old man :chuckle:

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1986 UK Championship was the last ranking event of the calendar year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_UK_Championship

There weren't too many surprises, though it was a breakthrough event for Tony Drago who reached the quarter-finals after big wins against Rex Williams, John Virgo and Willie Thorne. He pushed Steve Davis, who would go on to win the event, all the way, only losing in the deciding frame. This run moves Drago up 22 places in the rankings, from 40th to 18th, ahead of Stephen Hendry, who drops from 18th to 21st.
Dennis Taylor's poor form continued and he lost 9-2 to Wayne Jones in the last 32. His ranking drops from 4th to 9th as a result.
Eugene Hughes is back in the top 16 after this event, at the expense of Tony Meo.

Last 16:
S Davis (1) 9-5 Reynolds (28)
Drago (40) 9-5 Thorne (7)
Higgins (12) 9-5 Hallett (19)
W Jones (27) 9-5 Hughes (17)
Thorburn (2) 9-2 Spencer (52)
N Foulds (5) 9-7 White (3)
Knowles (6) 9-6 Griffiths (9)
Parrott (16) 9-6 Steve Longworth (36)

QFs:
Davis (1) 9-8 Drago (40)
Higgins (12) 9-5 Jones (27)
Foulds (5) 9-2 Thorburn (2)
Parrott (16) 9-4 Knowles (6)

SFs:
Davis (1) 9-3 Higgins (12)
Foulds (5) 9-3 Parrott (16)

Final:
Davis (1) 16-7 Foulds (5)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

I don't particularly fancy doing much in-depth analysis to compare my rankings with others at this stage. I may do when we get to about 2012 and there are plenty of events contributing.
I have though decided to do some very basic comparison between my rankings and the real rankings of the time for the first 3 events of the season. Even this has taken some time.

Wiki has 64 players listed as being ranked for the season:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker_w ... _1986/1987

What I have done is look at any matches between players on this list to see if the rankings correctly predict a win or not.

In the 3 events so far, there have been 147 such matches, so quite a small sample, but not insignificant.

The real rankings have correctly predicted 94 of the 147 matches (64%).
My rankings correctly predicted 101 (69%).

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1987 Classic took place in Blackpool in January. I've been to Blackpool in January, and by golly the weather is rough! The gales along the beachfront can literally sweep you off your feet, and it is impossible to wear enough to keep out the cold. Thinking about it, my memories may well be from 1987...
3 South Africans and 4 Australians reached the last 64 stage, I can imagine they missed home!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Classic_(snooker)

Steve Davis won the event. No surprise there! And Jimmy White reached the final, as a result overtaking Cliff Thorburn in the rankings and moving up to number 2.
Stephen Hendry and Dean Reynolds reached the semi-finals for the first time in their careers, and both moved into the top 16 as a consequence.
Reynolds was one frame away from playing Steve Davis in a ranking event final on his 24th birthday, but alas it wasn't to be.
Eugene Hughes's yo-yoing in and out of the top 16 goes on, this time dropping to 19th. And Kirk Stevens also lost his top-16 spot for the first time in the 1980s.
Ray Reardon continues to plummet down the rankings. Since losing his top-16 place following the 1986 World Championship, he has dropped from 21st to 28th to 32nd to 39th, and now down to 44th.

QFs:
White (3) 5-3 Griffiths (8)
Reynolds (23) 5-1 C Wilson (38) (yes, him again!)
S Davis (1) 5-4 Parrott (13)
Hendry (21) 5-0 S Francisco (12)

SFs:
White (3) 9-8 Reynolds (23)
Davis (1) 9-3 Hendry (21)

Final:
Davis (1) 13-12 White (3)