Trump criticises snooker's ranking system
World number five Judd Trump has criticised the World Snooker Tour's ranking system, describing it as “terrible” and “pointless”. Speaking to Metro, the 37-year-old said the current prize-money-based structure is too heavily weighted towards the biggest events and does not reward consistency.
The rankings are based on prize money won over a rolling two-year period, rather than ranking points. Trump believes this makes the system “top-heavy”, with the World Championship – the sport's most lucrative tournament – having a disproportionate influence. World champion Wu Yize collected £500,000 for his victory, and the prize money for the event is set to rise by £125,000 in 2027.
“It's just so top-heavy and now there's only one big event, it makes it even worse,” Trump told Metro. “You kind of know whoever wins the Worlds, it's pretty much nailed on to be first or second for the next two seasons.”
Impact of Saudi Arabia Masters removal
The removal of the Saudi Arabia Masters from the calendar has also had a significant effect on the rankings. Trump won the event in 2024 and has now lost the £500,000 he earned there from his rolling total, as prize money drops off two years after it is won. Neil Robertson, who won the Saudi title in 2025, faces a similar loss.
“Obviously I managed to win Saudi, Neil [Robertson] won Saudi, those points are going to come off,” Trump said. “It's just a bit of a pointless ranking system, I think. It needs to be changed because the Worlds prize money has gone up again this year which makes it even worse. It's just terrible.”
He added that the system is “not an accurate” reflection of a player's performance. However, he stressed that his criticism should not detract from the achievements of current world number one Zhao Xintong, who he said “deserves to be number one because he's won other events as well”.
Rankings and rivals
Zhao Xintong is currently top of the world rankings with a rolling tally of £1,253,550. Neil Robertson is second, with £500,000 of his total coming from his victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in Saudi Arabia last year. Wu Yize is third, followed by Mark Selby in fourth and Trump in fifth.
Trump also singled out Robertson, questioning what the Australian has done to be so close to the top. “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,” he said. He also noted that Wu, based in Sheffield, has only won one other ranking event in his career.
Selby won the China Open last month, while Trump beat Kyren Wilson in the final of the non-ranking Shanghai Masters at the beginning of August. Trump acknowledged that the world number one spot could change in the coming months. “I think the world number one deserves to be world number one at the moment,” he said, “but I think there's a chance in the next few months that maybe world number one shouldn't be.”
Call for change
Trump has previously suggested that a points-based system would be fairer, and he reiterated that view. “I think they need to transfer to points at some point in the next year or two,” he said. He insisted he does not usually complain about tournaments being removed from the calendar, but believes the current structure gives too much weight to a small number of events.