Ronnie O'Sullivan to return to Essex for English Open as world No. 1, Gary Wilson highest mover in snooker rankings
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ByEurosport
Updated 05/12/2022 at 12:05 GMT
World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will open his English Open campaign as world No. 1 when he faces Belgian teenager Ben Mertens in Essex on Monday 12 December. O'Sullivan lost 4-3 to Scottish Open winner Gary Wilson in the last 32 in Edinburgh, but has strengthed his position at the top of the sport. Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+.
Watch amazing overhead angle of O'Sullivan's sensationally quick break
Ronnie O'Sullivan will make a triumphant return to Essex as world No. 1 when the English Open begins on Monday 12 December.
The seven-time defending world champion faces Belgian teenager Ben Mertens in his tournament opener at the Brentwood Centre live on Eurosport having strengthened his position at the summit of the sport.
O'Sullivan – who lost 4-3 to new Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson in the last 32 in Edinburgh – has one million points, 211,000 points ahead of Judd Trump, who lost 5-4 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on a re-spotted black in the quarter-finals of the season's sixth ranking event.
Trump and Selby swap positions from second to third after the Scottish Open with Wilson the highest mover in the rankings as his £80,000 first prize sees him jump 14 places from 32 to 18 in the rankings after his 9-2 final win over fellow Englishman Joe O'Connor.
O'Connor moves up 14 places from 55 to 40th after he earned £35,000 for his runner-up spot at the Meadowbank Sports Centre on Sunday.
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On the one-year list, German Masters champion Zhao Xintong and former Masters champion Yan Bingtao both need strong performances at the English Open to secure their respective places at the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham next month (16-22 January).
The Chinese duo are 9,000 points adrift of Un-Nooh – who occupies the 32nd and final qualifying spot – and need a run to at least the quarter-finals in Essex to secure 11,000.
But they will need to go further if the Thai player wins his opening match in Brentwood against 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham.
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World Snooker rankings after Scottish Open
- 1. Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) 1,000,000
- 2. Judd Trump (Eng) 789,000
- 3. Mark Selby (Eng) 745,000
- 4. Neil Robertson (Aus) 691,000
- 5. Mark Allen (NIr) 642,000
- 6. John Higgins (Sco) 490,500
- 7. Kyren Wilson (Eng) 442,000
- 8. Mark Williams (Wal) 442,000
- 9. Zhao Xintong (Chn) 425,000
- 10. Jack Lisowski (Eng) 352,000
- 11. Luca Brecel (Bel) 333,000
- 12. Shaun Murphy (Eng) 325,000
- 13. Barry Hawkins (Eng) 315,000
- 14. Stuart Bingham (Eng) 295,000
- 15. Ryan Day (Wal) 256,500
- 16. Yan Bingtao (Chn) 242,000
- 17. Hossein Vafaei (Irn) 210,500
- 18. Gary Wilson (Eng) 210,000
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Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch Seventh Heaven, a two-part show about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic World Championship win last season, on demand now.
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