Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby head Snooker World Championship field as top 16 seeds confirmed

The top 16 for the Snooker World Championship has been confirmed following Ryan Day’s 10-7 defeat to Mark Selby at the Tour Championship. Day was competing against Ding Junhui and Gary Wilson coming into this week before the Crucible, for a seeded place at the World Championship. Ad However, Day needed to beat Selby to stay in the running for an automatic Crucible spot since Ding was victorious over Mark Allen earlier in the week.

World ChampionshipWorld Championship qualifying: Schedule and key info28/03/2023 AT 14:55 Snooker World Championship seeds Ronnie O’Sullivan Mark Selby Mark Allen Judd Trump Neil Robertson Shaun Murphy Kyren Wilson Mark Williams Luca Brecel John Higgins Ali Carter Jack Lisowski Robert Milkins Stuart Bingham Gary Wilson Ding Junhui As defending champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan is guaranteed to be the top seed and will play at 10:00 and 19:00 on the opening day of the tournament on April 15. However, he could lose his status as world No. 1 if Selby beats Shaun Murphy in the second semi-final at the Tour Championship on Saturday.

There are likely to be other changes in the seeding, depending on what happens in the Tour Championship as a triumph for Ding, Murphy or Kyren Wilson would vault them up the rankings. While the top 16 go straight to the Crucible, everyone else needs to qualify for the World Championship. Qualifying begins on Monday, running from April 3-12 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.