Rankings revisit - a trip through history

2004 World Championship - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Worl ... ampionship

This championship was peppered with upsets. However, Ronnie O'Sullivan stood firm while his fellow favourites fell and claimed the title in relative comfort. He demolished the number one, Stephen Hendry, in the semi-final

It was a huge surprise to see him play Graeme Dott in the final. Dott had overcome Mark King, John Higgins, and Matthew Stevens to get as far as he did.

1st round
Mark Williams (3) 10-7 Dominic Dale (45)
Joe Perry (46) 10-7 Robert Milkins (36)
Matthew Stevens (9) 10-7 James Wattana (29)
Paul Hunter (4) 10-7 John Parrott (34)
Stephen Lee (10) 7-10 Lee Walker (30)
David Gray (40) 10-7 Ali Carter (20)
Graeme Dott (35) 10-9 Mark King (12)
John Higgins (7) 10-9 Ryan Day (14)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 10-6 Stephen Maguire (13)
Quinten Hann (19) 4-10 Andy Hicks (52)
Steve Davis (15) 7-10 Anthony Hamilton (23)
Ken Doherty (5) 5-10 Joe Swail (50)
Pater Ebdon (6) 8-10 Ian McCulloch (28)
Alan McManus(27) 7-1 Chris Small (21) (retired sick)
Jimmy White (8) 8-10 Barry Pinches (17)
Stephen Hendry(2) 10-2 Stuart Pettman (39)

L16
Perry (46) 13-11 Williams (3)
Stevens (9) 13-12 Hunter (4)
Gray (40) 13-5 Walker (30)
Dott (35) 13-10 Higgins (7)
O'Sullivan (2) 13-11 Hicks (52)
Hamilton (23) 13-11 Swail (50)
McCulloch (28) 13-6 McManus (27)
Hendry (1) 13-12 Pinches (17)

QFs
Stevens (9) 13-10 Perry (46)
Dott (35) 13-7 Gray (40)
O'Sullivan (2) 13-3 Hamilton (23)
Hendry (1) 13-3 McCulloch (28)

SFs
Dott (35) 17-15 Stevens (9)
O'Sullivan (2) 17-4 Hendry (1)

Final
O'Sullivan (2) 18-8 Dott (35)

Here are the rankings at the end of the 2003-04 season:

1 +3 Ronnie O'Sullivan 23810
2 +1 Stephen Hendry 20528
3 -2 Mark Williams 17699
4 +2 Paul Hunter 16559
5 +4 Matthew Stevens 15285
6 -4 Ken Doherty 14563
7 = Peter Ebdon 13897
8 -3 John Higgins 13542
9 +26 Jimmy White 11910
10 +13 Graeme Dott 11218
11 -3 Stephen Lee 10602
12 +25 Mark King 9709
13 +21 Stephen Maguire 9608
14 -3 Marco Fu 9559
15 +14 Barry Pinches 9530
16 +16 Ryan Day 8976
17 -1 Anthony Hamilton 8676
18 +3 Ian McCulloch 8482
19 -2 Steve Davis 8394
20 +4 Gerard Greene 7755
21 -8 David Gray 7451
22 +11 Joe Perry 7422
23 +64 Lee Walker 7407
24 -6 Ali Carter 7394
25 +1 Quinten Hann 7375
26 -12 Alan McManus 7367
27 +11 Michael Holt 7292
28 -16 Chris Small 7050
29 -14 Drew Henry 6743
30 +29 James Wattana 6724
31 -3 Tony Drago 6656
32 +11 Nigel Bond 6558
33 -6 Shaun Murphy 6546
34 +15 John Parrott 6215
35 -5 Joe Swail 6072
36 +96 Neil Robertson 5914
37 -18 Robert Milkins 5852
38 +8 Fergal O'Brien 5848
39 +46 Andy Hicks 5841
40 +8 Dominic Dale 5509
41 = Stuart Pettman 5491
42 +11 Patrick Wallace 5414
43 +22 Rory McLeod 5301
44 -5 Stuart Bingham 5292
45 -35 Mark Selby 5226
46 +6 Adrian Gunnell 5206
47 -27 Sean Storey 5016
48 +14 Leo Fernandez 4845
49 +7 Nick Dyson 4462
50 -14 Barry Hawkins 4374
51 -29 Dave Harold 4329
52 +54 Tom Ford 4167
53 -22 Rod Lawler 4093
54 -4 Mike Dunn 4028
55 +42 Simon Bedford 3951
56 -14 Mark Davis 3911
57 +13 Craig Butler 3896
58 -13 Kwan Poomjang 3894
59 +10 David Roe 3861
60 +105 Ding Junhui 3856
61 +38 Munraj Pal 3678
62 -8 Paul Wykes 3654
63 +9 Andrew Norman 3616
64 +4 Michael Judge 3559
65 -1 Brian Morgan 3546
66 -16 Andrew Higginson 3485
67 +28 Ricky Walden 3479
68 -21 Bjorn Haneveer 3434
69 -12 Jimmy Michie 3359
70 +9 Paul Davies 3353
71 -16 Dave Finbow 3236
72 +46 Colm Gilcreest 3046
73 +78 Adrian Rosa 2965
74 -49 Robin Hull 2947
75 NEW Liu Song 2944
76 -15 Jamie Burnett 2940
77 -14 Gary Wilkinson 2889
78 +58 Ian Preece 2778
79 +25 Atthasit Mahitthi 2777
80 NEW Scott MacKenzie 2768
81 +30 Jamie Cope 2739
82 -9 David Gilbert 2687
83 -12 Martin Dziewialtowski 2677
84 -4 Shokat Ali 2629
85 -19 Matthew Couch 2628
86 +14 Peter Lines 2617
87 +30 Martin Gould 2585
88 NEW Gary Thomson 2491
89 -14 Jason Prince 2424
90 NEW Joe Delaney 2406
91 +40 Philip Williams 2399
92 -48 Nick Walker 2349
93 +5 Alain Robidoux 2288
94 +51 Paul Sweeny 2253
95 -37 Wayne Brown 2244
96 -36 Anthony Davies 2231
97 -16 Johl Younger 2168
98 -14 Marcus Campbell 2148
99 +9 Bradley Jones 2042
100 +23 Kurt Maflin 2040
101 -19 Billy Snaddon 2033
102 -62 Kristjan Helgason 2018
103 -25 Alfie Burden 1997
104 -21 Jason Ferguson 1981
105 -29 Darren Morgan 1831
106 NEW Michael Rhodes 1700
107 NEW Darryn Walker 1672
108 +19 Luke Simmonds 1654
109 -35 Jonathan Birch 1585
110 +64 Mehmet Husnu 1563
111 -22 Luke Fisher 1511
112 NEW Gary Hardiman 1494
113 -36 Tony Jones 1485
114 NEW Stuart Mann 1469
115 +6 Chris Melling 1355
116 -25 Terry Murphy 1318
117 NEW Steve Mifsud 1235
118 -32 Joe Johnson 1233
119 NEW Supoj Saenla 1194
120 NEW Joe Meara 1174
121 +26 Ian Sargeant 1056
122 NEW Steven Bennie 958
123 NEW Carlo Giagnacovo 941
124 +55 Ian Brumby 888
125 +40 Stephen Croft 873
126 NEW Michael Wild 833
127 (a) -60 Euan Henderson 768
128 (a) -36 Mark Gray 715
134 NEW Andy Neck 540
141 NEW James Leadbetter 476

To the end of the 03-04 season, 182 ranking events have been played. Here is the roll of honour:

Stephen Hendry 35 (2003 British Open)
Steve Davis 28
John Higgins 15
Mark Williams 15 (2003 LG Cup)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 15 (2004 Welsh Open | 2004 World Championship)
Jimmy White 10 (2004 Players' Championship)
John Parrott 9
Peter Ebdon 6 (2004 Irish Masters)
Ray Reardon 5
Ken Doherty 5
James Wattana 3
Stephen Lee 3
Paul Hunter 3
Cliff Thorburn 2
Tony Knowles 2
Dennis Taylor 2
Doug Mountjoy 2
Alan McManus 2

John Spencer, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Willie Thorne, Silvino Francisco, Joe Johnson, Neal Foulds, Tony Meo, Mike Hallett, Steve James, Bob Chaperon, Tony Jones, Dave Harold, Nigel Bond, Dominic Dale, Fergal O'Brien, Chris Small, David Gray, Matthew Stevens (2003 UK Championship); Stephen Maguire (2004 European Open): 1 each

Moving into the 2004-05 season, we are again reduced to 96 professionals.
48 players have lost their professional status (ranking at the end of 03-04 on the right):

Kwan Poomjang 58
Munraj Pal 61
Andrew Higginson 66
Colm Gilcreest 72
Adrian Rosa 73
Liu Song 75
Ian Preece 78
Atthasit Mahitthi 79
Jamie Cope 81
David Gilbert 82
Martin Dziewialtowski 83
Matthew Couch 85
Peter Lines 86
Martin Gould 87
Gary Thomson 88
Jason Prince 89
Philip Williams 91
Alain Robidoux 93
Paul Sweeny 94
Wayne Brown 95
Johl Younger 97
Bradley Jones 99
Kurt Maflin 100
Billy Snaddon 101
Kristjan Helgason 102
Jason Ferguson 104
Michael Rhodes 106
Darryn Walker 107
Luke Simmonds 108
Mehmet Husnu 110
Luke Fisher 111
Gary Hardiman 112
Tony Jones 113
Stuart Mann 114
Chris Melling 115
Terry Murphy 116
Steve Mifsud 117
Joe Johnson 118
Supoj Saenla 119
Joe Meara 120
Ian Sargeant 121
Steven Bennie 122
Carlo Giagnacovo 123
Ian Brumby 124
Stephen Croft 125
Michael Wild 126
Andy Neck 134
James Leadbetter 141

80 players have retained their professional status from the previous season:

Ronnie O'Sullivan 1
Stephen Hendry 2
Mark Williams 3
Paul Hunter 4
Matthew Stevens 5
Ken Doherty 6
Peter Ebdon 7
John Higgins 8
Jimmy White 9
Graeme Dott 10
Stephen Lee 11
Mark King 12
Stephen Maguire 13
Marco Fu 14
Barry Pinches 15
Ryan Day 16
Anthony Hamilton 17
Ian McCulloch 18
Steve Davis 19
Gerard Greene 20
David Gray 21
Joe Perry 22
Lee Walker 23
Ali Carter 24
Quinten Hann 25
Alan McManus 26
Michael Holt 27
Chris Small 28
Drew Henry 29
James Wattana 30
Tony Drago 31
Nigel Bond 32
Shaun Murphy 33
John Parrott 34
Joe Swail 35
Neil Robertson 36
Robert Milkins 37
Fergal O'Brien 38
Andy Hicks 39
Dominic Dale 40
Stuart Pettman 41
Patrick Wallace 42
Rory McLeod 43
Stuart Bingham 44
Mark Selby 45
Adrian Gunnell 46
Sean Storey 47
Leo Fernandez 48
Nick Dyson 49
Barry Hawkins 50
Dave Harold 51
Tom Ford 52
Rod Lawler 53
Mike Dunn 54
Simon Bedford 55
Mark Davis 56
Craig Butler 57
David Roe 59
Ding Junhui 60
Paul Wykes 62
Andrew Norman 63
Michael Judge 64
Brian Morgan 65
Ricky Walden 67
Bjorn Haneveer 68
Jimmy Michie 69
Paul Davies 70
Dave Finbow 71
Robin Hull 74
Jamie Burnett 76
Gary Wilkinson 77
Scott MacKenzie 80
Shokat Ali 84
Joe Delaney 90
Nick Walker 92
Anthony Davies 96
Marcus Campbell 98
Alfie Burden 103
Darren Morgan 105
Jonathan Birch 109

We have 10 former pros regaining their professional status:
Mark Gray 128
Paul Davison 146
Stefan Mazrocis 147
Hugh Abernethy 149
Brian Salmon 150
Jin Long 152
Mike Hallett 156
David McDonnell 162
Steve James 165
Joe Jogia

And 6 new professionals:
Adam Davies 163 (b.1987)
Gary Wilson (b.1985)
David Hall (b.1980)
Sean O'Neill (b.1981)
Rodney Goggins (b.1978)
Ben Woollaston (b.1987)

2004 Grand Prix - Guild Hall, Preston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Grand_Prix_(snooker)

Ronnie O'Sullivan began what was to become a very strong season for him by winning the first event. He beat Ian McCulloch in the final, who reached that stage for the first time.
O'Sullivan won comfortably 9-5 after racing into a 5-1 lead.

McCulloch reached the final after beating another surprise semi-finalist, Michael Judge. To get there, Judge had beaten Mark Williams and Marco Fu, while McCulloch had beaten Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, and Stephen Maguire.

QFs:
Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) 5-0 Mark Selby (45)
Paul Hunter (4) 5-0 James Wattana (30)
Ian McCulloch (18) 5-2 Stephen Maguire (13)
Michael Judge (64) 5-1 Joe Perry (22)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (1) 6-3 Hunter (4)
McCulloch (18) 6-1 Judge (64)

Final:
O'Sullivan (1) 9-5 McCulloch (18)

Following the 2004 Grand Prix, Jimmy White moves above John Higgins in the rankings and into the top 8. Paul Hunter moves up to third.

1 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 21050
2 = Stephen Hendry 14965
3 +1 Paul Hunter 13918
4 -1 Mark Williams 12584
5 = Matthew Stevens 11660
6 = Ken Doherty 10592
7 +3 Graeme Dott 10451
8 +1 Jimmy White 10045
9 -1 John Higgins 9915
10 -3 Peter Ebdon 9746
11 +7 Ian McCulloch 9083
12 -1 Stephen Lee 7788
13 = Stephen Maguire 7781
14 +1 Barry Pinches 7383
15 -3 Mark King 7166
16 -2 Marco Fu 6960

In: Ian McCulloch
Out: Ryan Day

Top 32
In: Neil Robertson; Andy Hicks; Joe Swail
Out: Chris Small; Tony Drago; Drew Henry

Top 64
In: Ricky Walden; Jamie Burnett; Paul Davies
Out: Munraj Pal; Kwan Poomjang; Paul Wykes

Top 128
In: Joe Jogia; Hugh Abernethy
Out: Mark Gray; Euan Henderson

It seems that after the 2004 UK Championship qualifiers, Dave Finbow may have retired, and his place on tour handed to Liu Song.

2004 British Open - The Brighton Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_British_Open

John Higgins won his first ranking title in three years, beating compatriot Stephen Maguire in the final.
Maguire had thrashed Ronnie in the semis (was this what prompted the 'he'll dominate for ten years' comment? Or was that earlier?)

Shaun Murphy reached his first semi-final after defeating Paul Hunter.

And Ding Junhui, now in his second year as a professional, had another good run, beating Tony Drago and Jimmy White on his way to the last 16, where he was beaten 5-2 by Maguire.

QFs:
John Higgins (9) 5-2 Stephen Hendry (2)
Shaun Murphy (38) 5-3 Barry Hawkins (46)
Stephen Maguire (13) 5-0 Anthony Hamilton (21)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) 5-1 Andy Hicks (28)

SFs:
Higgins (9) 6-0 Murphy (38)
Maguire (13) 6-1 O'Sullivan (1)

Final:
Higgins (9) 9-6 Maguire (13)

Following the 2004 British Open

Top 16
1 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 19867
2 = Stephen Hendry 13856
3 = Paul Hunter 11453
4 +5 John Higgins 10877
5 +8 Stephen Maguire 10781
6 -2 Mark Williams 9829
7 -2 Matthew Stevens 9796
8 +2 Peter Ebdon 8593
9 -1 Jimmy White 8549
10 -3 Graeme Dott 8354
11 -5 Ken Doherty 8319
12 -1 Ian McCulloch 8307
13 +1 Barry Pinches 7768
14 +14 Andy Hicks 7564
15 = Mark King 7477
16 +1 Ryan Day 7364

In: Andy Hicks; Ryan Day
Out: Stephen Lee; Marco Fu

Top 32
In: Shaun Murphy; Barry Hawkins; Ding Junhui
Out: Gerard Greene; Joe Swail; Alan McManus

Top 64
In: Shokat Ali; Jimmy Michie; Marcus Campbell
Out: Dave Harold; Andrew Norman; Craig Butler

Top 128
In: David McDonnell; Mark Gray; Jin Long; Brian Salmon
Out: Joe Johnson; Ian Brumby; Stephen Croft; Michael Wild

2004 UK Championship - Barbican Centre, York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_UK_Championship

It's been quite the run of bad form for the game's leading lights, who once again all fell early. This time, even O'Sullivan lost in the first round, though he did face a tough challenge in meeting eventual tournament winner Stephen Maguire.

Maguire took a very one-sided final, slaughtering David Gray 10-1.

Jamie Burnett made a 148 break in qualification.

Last 16
Joe Perry (20) 9-4 Barry Pinches (13)
Ali Carter (23) 9-8 Paul Hunter (3)
Graeme Dott (10) 9-4 Andy Hicks (14)
David Gray (32) 9-6 Barry Hawkins (27)
Mark King (15) 9-8 Alan McManus (37)
John Parrott (33) 9-5 Ricky Walden (39)
Stephen Lee (19) 9-8 Peter Ebdon (8)
Stephen Maguire (5) 9-2 Steve Davis (26)

QFs:
Perry (20) 9-7 Carter (23)
Gray (32) 9-7 Dott (10)
King (15) 9-6 Parrott (33)
Maguire (5) 9-4 Lee (19)

SFs:
Gray (32) 9-8 Perry (20)
Maguire (5) 9-4 King (15)

Final:
Maguire (5) 10-1 Gray (32)

Following the 2004 UK Championship, Stephen Maguire moves up to second.

Top 16
1 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 19613
2 +3 Stephen Maguire 15191
3 -1 Stephen Hendry 13468
4 -1 Paul Hunter 11547
5 -1 John Higgins 10797
6 +9 Mark King 10054
7 +3 Graeme Dott 10040
8 -1 Matthew Stevens 9508
9 -3 Mark Williams 9478
10 -2 Peter Ebdon 9429
11 +9 Joe Perry 9310
12 +1 Barry Pinches 9108
13 -2 Ken Doherty 8699
14 -5 Jimmy White 8453
15 -1 Andy Hicks 8430
16 +7 Ali Carter 8233

In: Joe Perry; Ali Carter
Out: Ryan Day; Ian McCulloch

Top 32
In: John Parrott; Ricky Walden
Out: Lee Walker; Ding Junhui

Top 64 and 128 - no change

Alex0paul wrote:How does McCulloch drop from 12th to out of the top 16 not long after reaching the GP final??

He's dropped out of the top 16. Currently in 21st.

chengdufan wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:How does McCulloch drop from 12th to out of the top 16 not long after reaching the GP final??

He's dropped out of the top 16. Currently in 21st.

Oh, Alex, I'm sorry. I completely misread your question.

Let me try again...

Yes, it's a good question.
Between the rankings following the GP and the UK, points have come off from 3 events that McCulloch did well in. The 2002 British Open, where he reached the final; and the 2004 World Championship and Players' Championship, where he reached the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, in the two events he has played since the GP final, he lost in his first match, 5-2 to Shaun Murphy in the 2004 British Open, and 9-4 to Barry Hawkins in the 2004 UK.

So his points have reduced from 9083 to 7753.

At the same time, it's mostly been the players in the 12-30 bracket who have done well in the most recent 2 events, rather than the usual top 10. The players who have overtaken him have all had significant increases in their points totals: Stephen Maguire; Mark King; Joe Perry; Barry Pinches; Andy Hicks; Ali Carter; David Gray; Stephen Lee; Neil Robertson; and Ryan Day.
Other than Stephen Lee, they've all gone up by 2-3000 points. Lee, who in that time has dropped from 12th to 18th, has had his points increase by around 150.

KrazeeEyezKilla wrote:That was the last British Open after 20 years. I think Eurosport were the broadcaster but I'm not sure.

Interesting to see Murphy reaching a semi final although at this point Maguire is the most likely to be the first 80's born World Champion. He's currently the only one to have won a ranking title.

Yes, I've been quite surprised to see Murphy doing so well this season. The narrative has been that he came out of nowhere to win his world title, but in fact he has been getting good results for a while now. Sure, him winning it this year still looks like being a massive surprise, but let's see what happens with his ranking as we progress through the season. He's currently in 26th.

Maguire has certainly established himself as a strong contender for the World title.

I've also been very surprised to see Ding doing well. I had always thought he won his China Open as an unknown amateur wildcard, but actually this is his third season, and second as a professional. He was the standout new professional in his first season, and has already had some good results early in his second season, beating Drago, White and O'Brien. I'm looking forward to finding out if/why he was a wildcard, and didn't just go through China Open qualifying.

2005 Welsh Open - Newport Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Welsh_Open_(snooker)

Ronnie O'Sullivan defended his title, beating Stephen Hendry 9-8. Hendry led 2-0, 3-1 and 7-5, but the Rocket kept coming back and eventually finished the match with a 67 break in the decider.

The likes of Higgins, Williams, Stevens and Lee were again conspicuous by their absence in the latter stages, while Doherty and Ebdon got further than they have done in a while but only reached the quarters. It looks like there will be quite the shuffle coming up in the top 16.

Up-and-comers Robertson, Hawkins and Day again performed well.

QFs:
Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) 5-4 Neil Robertson (19)
Barry Hawkins (22) 5-3 Peter Ebdon (10)
Stephen Hendry (3) 5-2 Ken Doherty (13)
Mark King (6) 5-4 Ryan Day (20)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (1) 6-4 Hawkins (22)
Hendry (3) 6-2 King (6)

Final:
O'Sullivan (1) 9-8 Hendry (3)

Following the 2005 Welsh Open, Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins enter the top 16 for the first time, going straight into the top 8.
Ken Doherty and Matthew Stevens drop out of the top 16.
Only 2 points separate Hendry and Maguire in second and third.
Mark King is perhaps surprisingly up to 4th.

Top 16
1 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 21429
2 = Stephen Maguire 15216
3 = Stephen Hendry 15214
4 +2 Mark King 11300
5 -1 Paul Hunter 11118
6 -1 John Higgins 10866
7 +12 Neil Robertson 10827
8 +14 Barry Hawkins 10223
9 -2 Graeme Dott 10042
10 +10 Ryan Day 9724
11 = Joe Perry 9711
12 -2 Peter Ebdon 9603
13 +2 Andy Hicks 9547
14 -2 Barry Pinches 8858
15 -6 Mark Williams 8556
16 = Ali Carter 8552

In: Neil Robertson; Barry Hawkins; Ryan Day
Out: Matthew Stevens; Ken Doherty; Jimmy White

Top 32
In: Ding Junhui
Out: Michael Holt

Top 64
In: Andrew Norman; Paul Davies
Out: Kwan Poomjang; Nick Dyson

Top 128
In: Steve James; Gary Wilson; Adam Davies; Rodney Goggins; Ben Woollaston; Paul Davison; Mike Hallett
Out: Terry Murphy; Ian Sargeant; Tony Jones; Carlo Giagnacovo; Steven Bennie; Luke Fisher; Kristjan Helgason

2005 Malta Cup - Hilton Conference Centre, St.Julians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Malta_Cup

This was a key event in snooker history as it was Stephen Hendry's 36th and final (barring miracles) ranking event title.
He beat Graeme Dott 9-7 in the final on 6th February 2005, scoring 3 centuries in the process.

Ronnie got a bye to the last 16, where he lost 5-0 to Dott. In that match, he conceded the third frame while leading 26-0.
The bye was due to Quinten Hann's withdrawal because of a broken finger.

QFs:
Matthew Stevens (17) 5-2 Alan McManus (37)
Stephen Hendry (3) 5-1 Tom Ford (33)
John Higgins (6) 5-2 Neil Robertson (7)
Graeme Dott (9) 5-1 Steve Davis (32)

SFs:
Hendry (3) 6-3 Stevens (17)
Dott (9) 6-5 Higgins (6)

Final:
Hendry (3) 9-7 Dott (9)

Following the 2005 Malta Cup, Graeme Dott is up to 4th. Mark Williams drops out of the top 16.

Top 16
1 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 20475
2 +1 Stephen Hendry 17214
3 -1 Stephen Maguire 15768
4 +5 Graeme Dott 12782
5 +1 John Higgins 12277
6 +1 Neil Robertson 12035
7 -3 Mark King 11326
8 -3 Paul Hunter 10688
9 -1 Barry Hawkins 10401
10 = Ryan Day 10292
11 +6 Matthew Stevens 9880
12 = Peter Ebdon 9872
13 = Andy Hicks 9835
14 -3 Joe Perry 9555
15 -1 Barry Pinches 9225
16 = Ali Carter 8716

In: Matthew Stevens
Out: Mark Williams

Top 32
In: Tom Ford; Adrian Gunnell
Out: Steve Davis; Marco Fu

Top 64
In: Dave Harold
Out: Chris Small (who is officially still in the top 16)

Top 128
In: Sean O'Neill
Out: Wayne Brown

2005 World Snooker Championship Final Qualifying Round

The following players were in the official top 16 and qualified automatically (our rankings on the left):
1. Ronnie O'Sullivan
2. Stephen Hendry
4. Graeme Dott
5. John Higgins
8. Paul Hunter
11. Matthew Stevens
12. Peter Ebdon
17. Ken Doherty
20. Jimmy White
21. David Gray
22. Mark Williams
23. Stephen Lee
33. Alan McManus
34. Steve Davis
41. Marco Fu
65. Chris Small

There were quite some interesting ties to decide who would make it to the Crucible. Here are the results from the final qualifying round, with the seeded players on the left:

Stephen Maguire (3) 10-5 Ryan Day (10)
Mark King (7) 9-10 Neil Robertson (6)
Joe Perry (14) 2-10 Mark Selby (39)
Barry Pinches (15) 10-6 Dave Harold (56)
Ali Carter (16) 10-0 James Wattana (28)
Ian McCulloch (18) 10-9 Ricky Walden (26)
Anthony Hamilton (19) 10-2 Darren Morgan (76)
John Parrott (27) 8-10 Fergal O'Brien (52)
Quinten Hann (29) 10-5 Shokat Ali (47)
Michael Holt (37) 10-8 Stuart Bingham (35)
Joe Swail (38) 8-10 Shaun Murphy (25)
Drew Henry (45) 10-6 Paul Wykes (72)
Robert Milkins (46) 10-3 Adrian Gunnell (31)
Gerard Greene (49) 10-6 Paul Davies (59)
Dominic Dale (53) 5-10 Andy Hicks (13)
Tony Drago (57) 10-4 Nigel Bond (30)