World snooker rankings update after Zhao Xintong's World Grand Prix triumph

The 28-year-old from China defeated fellow countryman Zhang Anda 10-6 in Sunday's final in Hong Kong to claim the fourth ranking crown of his career, and first since his Crucible triumph last spring.

The £180,000 top prize Zhao pocketed at the Kai Tak Arena sees him switch places with Shaun Murphy in the revised standings.

With nothing substantial to defend from his two-year rolling total until the 2027 World Championship, Zhao will be in the mix to become the world number one at some point this year.

More importantly in the short-term, though, his success in the Far East has earned him a place at the Players Championship in Telford later this month.

Zhao went into the World Grand Prix knowing he required a deep run to win an invite for the 16-player tournament with qualification determined via the one-year ranking list, only. His recent windfall pushes him up into sixth in the seasonal standings, which also means he will surely make the cut for the 12-player Tour Championship, too.

The top six in the updated world rankings list remain the same, although world number one Judd Trump's lead over second-placed Kyren Wilson has been cut by over £60,000.

Both Trump and Wilson lost in the opening round in Hong Kong, but Trump was defending the £80,000 he won at the 2024 German Masters - prize money that was due to come off his two-year rolling total at this juncture.

Significantly for Masters champion Wilson, his first round loss at the Kai Tak means he misses out on defending the Players Championship title.

The only other change within the sport's elite top 16 is Wu Yize (12th) and Ding Junhui (13th) swapping spots.

Si Jiahui - runner-up to Trump in Berlin two years ago - had a chunk of money coming off for that achievement, but he stays in 16th and has a cushion of over £70,000 between himself and 17th-placed Stuart Bingham.

It would have been a different story, though, had Zhang lifted the World Grand Prix trophy.

The former International Championship winner goes up three steps to 20th in the current rankings, but would have gone back into the top 16 had he defeated Zhao.

There are a few small changes elsewhere in the 17 to 32 bracket; Zhou Yuelong - who was agonisingly close to the final at the WGP - moves up two places to 28th.

Further down the rankings, Scottish Open Chang Bingyu is up six places to 56th. On only the first year of his two-year tour card, that is a significant feat.

There are only five more ranking events of the 2025/26 professional snooker season - four more before the sport's blue riband showpiece of the World Championship.

Over the coming weeks on Totally Snookered, we aim to keep you abreast on all the relevant ranking list stories: Players Series qualification, the race to the Crucible, and tour survival.

The next ranking event action on the World Snooker Tour is ‘qualifying’ for the 2026 World Open. These matches take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Barnsley. The winners will book berths for the main venue, televised stages held in Yushan, China in March.

For the full, unofficial world rankings after the 2026 World Grand Prix, visit snooker.org here.