World snooker rankings update and analysis after the 2024 Northern Ireland Open

World champion Kyren Wilson crushed Judd Trump 9-3 in the final to claim the 2024 Northern Ireland Open on Sunday night; a result that won him his eighth ranking event title.

We review some of the changes to the world rankings and look at the biggest stories following this latest revision to the standings.

The Top 16

There are no positional changes to the top 15 in the world rankings following the action in Belfast.

Trump remains the runaway world number one, although his lead at the top of the rankings has been cut slightly by world number two Wilson who collected the £100,000 top prize for his efforts last week at the Waterfront Hall.

With a difference of around £450,000 between the two players, though, realistically, it won't be until towards the end of this season at the earliest that an overtake could be a possibility for Wilson.

Mark Allen stays third in the standings, although he has lost significant ground as the prize money he earned for winning this event in 2022 was removed from his ranking total. As a consequence, the Northern Irishman - who began the season as the world number one - is now over £200,000 behind Wilson, and has big chunks of money to defend in upcoming months, including £250,000 from his 2022 UK Championship triumph.

The only change in the top 16 comes in 16th, with Tom Ford (up to 16th) and Neil Robertson (down to 17th) swapping places.

However, Ford has not qualified for the upcoming International Championship (November 3-10), while Robertson has, meaning Ford will have to qualify (November 16-21) for the televised stages of the UK Championship (November 23 - December 1) which is the following ranking event, as at least Robertson will jump him in the rankings due to cashing at the IC.

The top 16 in the world rankings after the International Championship will be the top 16 seeds for the UK Championship.

No prize money is due to come off players' totals following the International Championship in Nanjing because the event only returned from COVID last year.

With a total prize fund of £825,000 for that competition, several players could move into the top 16 and book themselves a direct place to the main venue stages of the UK Championship in York.

The top 16 in the world rankings after the UK Championship, will qualify for the 2025 Masters in January. The top 10 at this point will also get an invite to the second edition of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.

The top 32 (17th-32nd)

A semi-finalist in Northern Ireland, Elliot Slessor (32nd) achieves a piece of personal history as he goes up three places and into the world's top 32 for the first time in his career. The 30-year-old has earned nearly £80,000 this season already.

There isn't much activity in this 17 to 32 bracket following the recent update. Zhou Yuelong drops down two positions to 28th after relinquishing his 2022 runner-up prize money from his cumulative total.

The top 64 (33rd-64th)

Stephen Maguire - whose cue was broken following his trip back from an early exit in Belfast - slips out of the top 32 to 33rd.

The biggest mover in this bracket is Martin O'Donnell, who has gone up five spots to 48th courtesy of his last 16 finish at the latest Home Nations Series event.

O'Donnell - runner-up at the Welsh Open earlier this year - has real scope to move a lot higher up the rankings over the coming months as he is on the second year of a two-year tour card, meaning he has no prize money to defend this season and can only add to his running total.

A semi-finalist in Northern Ireland a couple of years back, Anthony McGill sinks three places to 39th.

He Guoqiang - last season's Rookie of the Year - is in a brilliant position to retain his tour card via the top 64 route. The Chinese cueist is up three to 60th.

Aaron Hill (down two places) is currently on the bubble in 64th. Those ranked inside the top 64 of the world rankings following the 2025 World Championship are guaranteed to stay on the professional circuit next season.

One of those who appears likely to fall out of the 64 is Sam Craigie, who has dropped four places to 56th. However, we have not seen Craigie in action at all this season, apparently due to recovering from neck surgery.

It will be interesting to see if Craigie receives some sort of medical exemption if he does indeed lose his tour card; a very recent precedent was set for this with Martin Gould, who has been suffering from a reported back issue.

Outside the top 64

There are several big moves here with players on the second year of a tour card looking to either break into the top 64 of the main rankings, or the top four of the one-year list for those outside of the 64 in order to preserve their professional status next season without having to go to Q School.

Teenager Stan Moody has enjoyed an impressive start to the season; his run to the last 16 last week pushes him up six spots to 72nd. He is currently around £37,000 behind 64th, but doesn't have any prize money coming off his total for the remainder of this term. At the moment, Moody is third on the one-year list, so he has that avenue, too.

Other professionals who are upwardly mobile include Ma Hailong (up seven to 73rd), Lei Peifan (up nine to 85th) and Wang Yuchen (up seven to 112th).

The legendary Jimmy White reached the last 32 in the Northern Irish capital city and goes ahead three to 89th, although the 62-year-old has a very big task on his hands to maintain his tour card outright. It is very likely, though, that the former UK and Masters champion would be awarded another invitational tour card due to his services to the sport.

Many thanks to snooker.org for providing an unofficial update of the world rankings. Their rankings list can be viewed here.