Former world number one Judd Trump has launched a scathing attack on snooker's ranking system, calling it 'terrible' and 'not accurate' after losing his top spot to Zhao Xintong. The 37-year-old, who held the world number one position for two years, believes the current money-based list fails to reward consistency and is too heavily influenced by a few high-prize events.
Trump's frustration with the ranking system
Trump's frustration stems from the rolling two-year system, which saw him lose the £500,000 he won at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Masters. The event is no longer on the calendar, meaning he had no chance to defend the prize money. Despite this setback, Trump told Metro: 'No, I never really want to moan about that kind of thing with the tournaments not on and stuff. You still have two seasons of other events to retain the place.'
However, Trump is adamant that the biggest money events have too much impact on the rankings. With the Saudi Masters now gone, the World Championship stands as the only major money event, which he says makes the situation worse. 'It's just so top-heavy and now there's only one big event, it makes it even worse,' he said. 'You kind of know whoever wins the Worlds, it's pretty much nailed on to be first or second for the next two seasons.'
Call for a points-based system
Trump is advocating for a shift to a points-based system rather than the current money list, arguing it would be fairer and more reflective of a player's performance across the season. 'Obviously I managed to win Saudi, Neil [Robertson] won Saudi, those points are going to come off. It's just a bit of a pointless ranking system, I think,' he said. 'It needs to be changed because the Worlds prize money has gone up again this year which makes it even worse [from £500,000 to £625,000].'
He added: 'It's just terrible. It's not an accurate system and that's taking nothing away from Xintong because he deserves to be number one because he's won other events as well. But I think they need to transfer to points at some point in the next year or two.'
Who deserves the top spot?
Trump is currently in a race to reclaim the world number one spot, competing against world champion Wu Yize, world number two Neil Robertson, and recent China Open winner Mark Selby. He questioned whether some of these players should even be in contention, citing a lack of consistency. 'I think Neil, for example, I don't really know what he's done to be so close, apart from win Saudi, he hasn't really done anything else,' said Trump. 'It's hard to pick individual players out, nothing against Neil but he's not been consistent enough to be the number one, in my eyes. I think Wu Yize, same thing. He won the Worlds but other than that he won one event [International Championship].'
Trump praised Zhao Xintong and Mark Selby as the most consistent performers. 'I think Xintong's been the best player consistently, along with probably Mark Selby, I'd say, winning some big events and playing well. So I just think it's a bit unfair. I think the world number one deserves to be world number one at the moment but I think there's a chance in the next few months that maybe world number one shouldn't be.'
The debate comes as Robertson, who won the Saudi Masters last year and both the World Grand Prix and English Open in the previous season, remains close in the rankings. Trump's comments highlight growing concerns within the sport about the fairness and accuracy of the ranking system, with the call for change growing louder as prize money at the World Championship continues to rise.
