Tomorrow’s revised official rankings record will see Shaun Murphy drop exterior the highest 16 – the primary time in virtually 20 years that he gained’t characteristic contained in the elite bracket.
Murphy has occupied a everlasting spot inside the high 16 since 2006 however will drop to seventeenth on the rolling two-year standings following this week’s Wuhan Open.
By reaching the ultimate, Gary Wilson has assured his return to the highest 16 on the expense of the Magician, who the previous beat within the final 32.
After John Higgins briefly dropped exterior the highest 16 final season, Murphy had taken on the mantle because the participant with the longest membership of the very best echelons.
The Englishman memorably gained the World Snooker Championship as a qualifier in 2005, however that success solely noticed him rise to quantity 21 on this planet.
Again in these days, the official rankings have been solely up to date as soon as yearly, so Murphy needed to wait till the top of the 2005/06 marketing campaign to interrupt into the highest 16 for the primary time.
For greater than 19 years since then, the 43 year-old has continued to proudly maintain his personal among the many best possible that the sport has to supply.
Murphy’s performances in rating occasions during the last couple of years have been under par, nonetheless, by his personal excessive expectations.
His finest shows through the 2024/25 time period got here in invitational occasions that didn’t carry rating factors – reaching the ultimate of the Shanghai Masters after which profitable the Masters in implausible vogue on the Alexandra Palace.
There have been solely a few semi-final runs in rating occasions to talk of throughout that interval, which has contributed to his slide down the pecking order.
To date through the fledgling 2025/26 marketing campaign, Murphy has continued that type of type with early exits on the Championship League and at this week’s Wuhan Open sandwiching his last-16 look on the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Dropping exterior the highest 16 gained’t have a big influence instantly for Murphy, who gained the final of his 12 rating titles in 2023.
Nonetheless, the four-time Triple Crown occasion winner will likely be hoping to reverse his trajectory as quickly as attainable with extra vital implications to come back later within the marketing campaign.
Murphy is fifteenth on the provisional Race to the UK Championship standings, with the highest 16 qualifying robotically to compete on the Barbican Centre in York.
Because the defending champion, he at the very least gained’t need to be involved about his invitation to the distinguished Masters in January.
On one other optimistic observe, Murphy is ranked tenth on the provisional Race to the Crucible rankings.
The document for the longest-serving membership inside the high 16, in the meantime, now goes to Mark Selby.
The four-time world champion has been ranked there since 2007, with Mark Allen representing a constant high 16 member since 2008.
The Wuhan Open concludes on Saturday with the ultimate happening on the Optics Valley Gymnasium between Gary Wilson and Xiao Guodong.
Wilson, chasing a fourth rating crown, will transfer to thirteenth on this planet rankings with victory in China, whereas Xiao would leapfrog his technique to a career-high rating of quantity eight if he have been to efficiently defend his Wuhan Open title.
Featured picture credit score: WST
