Mark Selby agrees with Judd Trump’s calls to change snooker’s ranking system, believing the current method is ‘madness’.
After a two-year stint as world number one, Trump was dethroned by 2025 world champion Zhao Xintong, at the Wuhan Open last month.
The Cyclone now leads the pack, but the race for top spot continues, with Neil Robertson, Wu Yize, Selby and Trump in the running.
Both Trump and Selby feel that the current prize money system gives too much of an advantage to players who have won the World Championship and the now-defunct Saudi Arabia Masters, both of which have boasted £500,000 top prizes.
Over a two-year system, both believe consistency should be rewarded more than a big individual wins, and they see the answer being a points system rather than one based on prize money.
‘It’s just terrible,’ Trump told Metro. ‘It’s not an accurate system and that’s taking nothing away from Xintong because he deserves to be number one because he’s won other events as well.
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‘But I think they need to transfer to points at some point in the next year or two.’
Selby told Metro: ‘It’s got to be on points. It can’t possibly be on prize money.
‘You could win the World Championships and Saudi Arabia. So if you’re a top 16 player, you win five matches in the World, five matches in Saudi and then not win another match all season and you’re going to be number one. You’ve won 10 games.
‘Then there’ll be players on the tour who’ve probably won 30 matches, 40 matches. And you’re, like, 300 grand in front of them. It’s madness.
‘Like Judd said, I think it’s got to be on consistency. And now Saudi’s not on. Basically, whoever wins the World is going to be there or thereabouts.’
The World Championship is undoubtedly the biggest prize in the sport and deserves the most reward, but a change to a points system would mean it does not have quite so much impact on the rankings.
The prize for the winner at the Crucible this season has risen to £625,000, with the second-highest in ranking events coming at the UK Championship, where the winner will pocket £312,500.
Trump and Selby are arguing that the top prize should not be worth as much as double its closest competitor when it comes to rankings.
‘You could argue that they’re world champion, they deserve it. But do they?’ Selby asked. ‘They deserve winning the tournament, but they’ve played well for two weeks and then they’re number one in the world. That can’t be right. It’s got to be on a consistency basis.
‘That’s why Judd was there for two years. Because if he wasn’t winning the tournament, he was either getting beaten in the semis or getting to a final. He was consistent, so he deserved to be there.’
Trump pointed out that Zhao’s wins at the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship last season made him a worthy world number one, but had doubts over Robertson and Wu as contenders.
‘It’s hard to pick individual players out, nothing against Neil but he’s not been consistent enough to be the number one, in my eyes,’ said Trump. ‘I think Wu Yize, same thing. He won the Worlds but other than that he won one event [International Championship].
‘I think Xintong’s been the best player consistently, along with probably Mark Selby, I’d say, winning some big events and playing well. So I just think it’s a bit unfair.’
Robertson and Wu lost early in the British Open this week, but Zhao, Trump and Selby remain as the Cyclone looks to hold off his challengers at the top of the rankings and the two Englishmen look to haul him in.
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