How Snooker World Rankings Work: Prize Money Over Two Years
In one line: a player's world ranking is the prize money they have won in ranking events over the last two years. There are no separate points: £1 of ranking prize money is one point.
How it rolls: after each event, the money from this season's event is added and the money from the same event two years earlier comes off. Invitation events such as the Masters do not count. After the 2026 International Championship, Zhao Xintong is world number one with £1,287,550, ahead of Wu Yize on £1,238,900.
Snooker's rankings decide who is seeded, who plays in the invitation events and who keeps a tour card, so they matter to players far below the top. The system is simpler than it looks once you see that it is just a money list. This guide follows the WPBSA's rankings FAQ and the figures on wst.tv.
The rule: ranking prize money over two years
The official world ranking list is the total prize money each player has won in world ranking events over the previous two years. It has been a rolling list, updated event by event, since 2010/11, and it has counted money rather than ranking points since 2014/15. The WPBSA's FAQ puts the mechanics simply:
- money from the current season is added after each completed event;
- money earned at the corresponding event more than two years earlier is removed.
So money does not drop off on a fixed date; it drops off when its event comes round again two seasons later. Prize money won as an amateur counts too: Zhao Xintong won the 2025 World Championship as an amateur, and the £500,000 took him straight from unranked to 11th.
A worked example
Say a player won £250,000 at the 2024 UK Championship. That money stays on their total through the whole of 2025 and most of 2026. When the 2026 UK Championship finishes, the 2024 money comes off and whatever they win at the 2026 event goes on. A player defending a big result therefore needs a similar result just to stand still, and someone who did badly two years ago has little to lose.
When an event disappears from the calendar, its money comes off at a corresponding event instead. The Saudi Arabia Masters was dropped for 2026/27, and SnookerHQ reported that Judd Trump's £500,000 from winning it in 2024 came off at the 2026 Wuhan Open, dropping him to fifth.
What does not count
The WPBSA lists the prize money that does not go into the rankings:
- invitation events, such as the Masters, Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions;
- high break prizes and maximum break prizes;
- first-round losers' money at the Shoot Out;
- money won by seeded players who lose their first match at events such as the World and UK Championships.
Source: WPBSA Rankings FAQ. The list is still headed "for the 2024/25 season"; we found no newer version.
Players in the last two groups are still paid; the money just does not count. Since prize money is the ranking, an event's prize fund decides its weight: winning the 2026 UK Championship is worth £312,500, a Home Nations title £100,000. Every event's prize money is in snooker prize money 2026/27.
Seedings and cut-off points
The official list changes after every event, but seedings are set from lists frozen at fixed seeding cut-off points through the season. For example, the list after the 2026 International Championship (final 7 November) seeds the UK Championship, the Shoot Out and the German Masters.
At an event, the defending champion is usually seeded first and the reigning world champion second, with the rest following the seeding list. That is why the world number one can be seeded third: at the 2026 UK Championship the seeds are Mark Selby (defending champion), Wu Yize (world champion) and then Zhao Xintong.
Two cut-offs decide the biggest fields:
- The Masters: the top 16 after the UK Championship are invited.
- The Crucible: the top 16 after the Tour Championship are seeded straight into the World Championship; everyone else plays the qualifiers.
The one-year list
Alongside the official list, WST keeps a one-year list of ranking prize money from the current season only. It decides the Players Series: the top 32 qualify for the World Grand Prix, the top 16 for the Players Championship and the top 12 for the Tour Championship. After the International Championship, Mark Selby led it with £357,350.
It also rescues tour cards: at the end of the season, the top four players on the one-year list who are not already safe earn a new two-year card.
Rankings and tour cards
The cut that matters most to most players is 64th. After the World Championship each season, the top 64 of the official list keep their tour card for the next season; players outside it whose two-year card has run out need the one-year list, Q School or another route back. How the tour is made up and how Q School works are in snooker tour cards and Q School.
Key thresholds
| Position | What it gets you |
|---|---|
| Top 16 after the UK Championship | An invitation to the Masters |
| Top 16 after the Tour Championship | A seeded place at the Crucible |
| Top 64 after the World Championship | A tour card for the next season |
| One-year list top 32 / 16 / 12 | World Grand Prix / Players Championship / Tour Championship |
| One-year list top 4 not already safe | A new two-year tour card |
The world number one and the records
After the 2026 International Championship, the top of the list on wst.tv is:
| Pos | Player | Two-year prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhao Xintong | 1,287,550 |
| 2 | Wu Yize | 1,238,900 |
Zhao became snooker's 13th world number one at the end of August 2026, according to the WPBSA. The full list, updated after every event, is on our world rankings page.
The WPBSA's ranking records (last updated in August 2026): Stephen Hendry holds the records for most weeks at number one (471, ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan's 389), the longest single spell (418 weeks, 1990–98) and the most seasons finishing at number one (9, ahead of O'Sullivan's 8).
Has anything changed for 2026/27?
Not in the rules: we found no change to what counts. What has changed is the calendar and the money. The Saudi Arabia Masters was dropped, the China Open returned and the Shenzhen Open replaced the Xi'an event, and the World and UK Championships' prize funds went up, so this season's winners will add more to their totals than their predecessors did.
The rankings, every hour
Our snooker section shows the world rankings, results and the schedule, updated every hour during events, with player pages for the top 16.
See the world rankings →FAQ
How are snooker rankings calculated?
From prize money won in ranking events over the previous two years. Each event's money is added when it finishes, and the money from the same event two years earlier is removed.
Does the Masters count for the world rankings?
No. The Masters, Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions are invitation events, and their prize money does not count.
What is the one-year ranking list?
Ranking prize money from the current season only. It decides who plays in the World Grand Prix (top 32), Players Championship (top 16) and Tour Championship (top 12), and gives four players a new tour card at the end of the season.
Who is the world number one in snooker?
Zhao Xintong, with £1,287,550 after the 2026 International Championship, ahead of Wu Yize on £1,238,900 (wst.tv).
Who has been world number one for the longest?
Stephen Hendry: 471 weeks in total and a single spell of 418 weeks from 1990 to 1998, according to the WPBSA.
Related reading: Snooker Prize Money 2026/27 · Snooker Tour Cards and Q School · The Snooker Triple Crown · World rankings, updated hourly
Sources: WPBSA Rankings FAQ, ranking records (updated 3 August 2026), Race to the Masters and Race to the Crucible pages, and news item on Zhao Xintong becoming world number one (28 August 2026); WST world rankings updates (7 May 2025; 25 October and 6 November 2026) and the rankings and one-year list on wst.tv (10 November 2026); Sky Sports on the 2026 UK Championship seeds; SnookerHQ ranking update after the 2026 Wuhan Open (30 August 2026). This article contains no sponsored or affiliate links.