Why the 2024 UK Snooker Championship is massive for the world rankings

One-third of the Triple Crown Series, the UK Championship is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events on the World Snooker Tour. This year's edition carries a prize fund in excess of £1.2 million with a top prize of £250,000 to be dished out on Sunday 1st December at the Barbican Centre.

The professional snooker circuit currently uses a money-based ranking list meaning prize money won at events is added to players’ ranking totals. The rankings are on a two-year rolling cycle, meaning all prize money won during that period is added together to give each player a cumulative total. For further information and an explainer on how the rankings work, please visit here.

With lots of money on offer at the 2024 UK Championship, there could be several significant changes when the rankings are updated following the conclusion of the tournament.

One issue currently not in the balance, though, is the world number one spot. Regardless of what happens in Yorkshire, Judd Trump is guaranteed to remain as the world number one, although world number two and reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson could take a significant chunk out of Trump's £450,000-plus cushion at the top if he lifts the trophy.

Winner of the UK Championship two years ago, Mark Allen will be defending £250,000 from his ranking total at this event.

The Race to Riyadh and the Ally Pally

The biggest ranking story to follow during the 2024 UK Championship is who will end the event inside the world's top 10 and top 16.

The 2025 Masters - the second Triple Crown event of the season - takes place at the Alexandra Palace in London between January 12-19. The 16-player invitational has a record prize fund in 2025, with the winner due to collect £350,000 - £100,000 up from the 2024 winner's pot.

Only those ranked inside the world's top 16 following the conclusion of the 2024 UK Championship will be invited to it. Going off the current world rankings, three players are tantalisingly close to earning a Masters debut: Si Jiahui (13th), Chris Wakelin (15th) and Xiao Guodong (16th).

Before the UK Championship qualifiers began, Xiao was just over £10,000 clear of 17th-place Jak Jones, with those making the 32-player main draw in York guaranteed at least £10,000.

However, there are a few things to remember here. Firstly, players will be losing the prize money points they earned from the 2022 UK Championship - these will be taken off their overall two-year cumulative rankings total.

Secondly, if you are a top 16 seed at the UK Championship, you must win your first match in the event in order to collect ranking points.

The top seeds who lose in round one will still physically receive prize money into their bank account, but the total will not go on their ranking points tally.

All of the qualifiers who have made it through are already guaranteed at least £10,000s worth of ranking points from the event, so there is extra pressure for the seeds to win their round one games.

Going into the UK qualifiers, Jak Jones (17th), Neil Robertson (18th), Barry Hawkins (20th) and Jack Lisowski (21st) were just some of the names hovering around the top 16 divide; those four have all qualified for York.

As well as the Masters, the second edition of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks; set for Saudi Arabia between December 18-20.

This unique event - featuring a gold ball and the possibility of a maximum 167 break - has been advertised to feature 12 players consisting of the world's top 10 after the 2024 UK Championship, and two wildcards from the Middle East region.

The winner of this competition in Riyadh will pocket £250,000, and there is also a $1 million bonus prize for the first player to complete the 'golden maximum' break of 167.

For live updates of the rankings during the 2024 UK Championship, visit the WPBSA website here.