The Statman
30th July 2006, 02:18 PM
1977 to 1991
A world ranking system was devised in order for seedings to be in place for the 1977 World Championship – the first to be played at the Crucible Theatre. These initially took account of each player's performance in the previous three world championships, viz. 1974, 1975 and 1976. Thus, in effect, the 1974 World Championship became, retrospectively, the first ranking tournament.
The same arrangement continued until the season 1982-83, when two further tournaments, the Jameson International and the Professional Players' Tournament (later to become the Grand Prix), were afforded world ranking status. In the season 1983-84 the Lada Classic became a ranking tournament; the UK Open and British Open followed suit in 1984-85.
At this point, the ranking system was calculated, in short, as follows (it will be noted that the World Championship was worth more points than the other tournaments):
<table border=1><tr><td>Category of player</td><td>Points awarded</td><td>World Championship</td></tr><tr><td>Champion</td><td>6 ranking points</td><td>10 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>5 ranking points</td><td>8 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Losing semi-finalist</td><td>4 ranking points</td><td>6 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Losing quarter-finalist</td><td>3 ranking points</td><td>4 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Last-16 losers</td><td>2 ranking points</td><td>2 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Last-32 losers</td><td>1 ranking point</td><td>1 ranking points
(2 merit points if a seed)</td></tr><tr><td>Last-64 losers</td><td>1 merit point</td><td>2 merit points</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>1 'A' point</td><td>1 merit point</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>No. of frames won</td><td>1 'A' point</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>n/a</td><td>No. of frames won</td></tr></table>
Since then, various events have been added to the ranking tournament calendar (most recently the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006-07), while others have been discontinued.
A world ranking system was devised in order for seedings to be in place for the 1977 World Championship – the first to be played at the Crucible Theatre. These initially took account of each player's performance in the previous three world championships, viz. 1974, 1975 and 1976. Thus, in effect, the 1974 World Championship became, retrospectively, the first ranking tournament.
The same arrangement continued until the season 1982-83, when two further tournaments, the Jameson International and the Professional Players' Tournament (later to become the Grand Prix), were afforded world ranking status. In the season 1983-84 the Lada Classic became a ranking tournament; the UK Open and British Open followed suit in 1984-85.
At this point, the ranking system was calculated, in short, as follows (it will be noted that the World Championship was worth more points than the other tournaments):
<table border=1><tr><td>Category of player</td><td>Points awarded</td><td>World Championship</td></tr><tr><td>Champion</td><td>6 ranking points</td><td>10 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>5 ranking points</td><td>8 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Losing semi-finalist</td><td>4 ranking points</td><td>6 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Losing quarter-finalist</td><td>3 ranking points</td><td>4 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Last-16 losers</td><td>2 ranking points</td><td>2 ranking points</td></tr><tr><td>Last-32 losers</td><td>1 ranking point</td><td>1 ranking points
(2 merit points if a seed)</td></tr><tr><td>Last-64 losers</td><td>1 merit point</td><td>2 merit points</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>1 'A' point</td><td>1 merit point</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>No. of frames won</td><td>1 'A' point</td></tr><tr><td>Previous round</td><td>n/a</td><td>No. of frames won</td></tr></table>
Since then, various events have been added to the ranking tournament calendar (most recently the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006-07), while others have been discontinued.