1988–89 snooker world rankings

none thumb|alt=Steve Davis playing snooker|Steve Davis (pictured in 2008) was ranked in first place for the sixth consecutive year.Hayton Dee 2004 1201–21 thumb|alt=Jimmy White playing snooker|Jimmy White (pictured in 2011) retained second place in the rankings.Hayton Dee 2004 1201–21 The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the governing body for professional snooker, first introduced a ranking system for professional players in 1976, with the aim of seeding players for the World Snooker Championship.Morrison 1987 107 The reigning champion would be automatically seeded first, the losing finalist from the previous year seeded second, and the other seedings based on the ranking list.Morrison 1987 107 Initially, the rankings were based on performances in the preceding three world championships.Morrison 1987 107 The list for the 1986–87 snooker season was the first to only take account of results over two seasons, and the rankings for 1988–89 were also based on results from the preceding two seasons.Everton 1986 9 Being ranked in the top 16 exempted players from the qualifying rounds for the World Snooker Championship and also meant inclusion in certain invitational events.Acteson Steve Higgins slips off edge of the world The Times London 47 19 April 1988 The top 32 ranked players were exempt from the early qualifying rounds of the other ranking tournaments.Smith 1988 20–29 The top three players in the 1987–88 rankings retained their positions for 1988–89.Hayton Dee 2004 1201–21 Steve Davis was ranked first, with 59 points, ahead of Jimmy White with 44 and Neal Foulds with 34.Smith 1988 20–29 In fourth place, with 33 points, was Stephen Hendry, who rose from 23rd position on the previous year's list.Smith 1988 20–29 The other players to join the top 16 were Peter Francisco, John Virgo, and Cliff Wilson.Smith 1988 24–25 The players dropping out of the top 16 were Alex Higgins, Rex Williams, Dean Reynolds and Doug Mountjoy.Smith 1988 24–25 It was first time since the rankings were instituted in 1976–77 that Higgins was not among the top 16.Smith 1988 24–25 In April 1987, he had been excluded from competing in the first two ranking tournaments of the 1987–88 season as part of a six-month ban imposed by the WPBSA, following a hearing conducted for the Association by Gavin Lightman, a barrister.Smith 1988 24–25Sydney Friskin Higgins banned for six months and fined £12,000 The Times 7 April 1987 44Catherine Baksi 6 August 2020 Sir Gavin Lightman obituary https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/aug/06/gavin-lightman-obituary The Guardian Higgins, who had previously been disciplined by the Association on several occasions, had earlier been found guilty in court of headbutting the tournament director at the 1986 UK Championship, and the hearing considered this and other matters including altercations with referees and a complaint by representatives of Cliff Thorburn that Higgins had alleged in newspaper articles that Thorburn used drugs. In May 1988, Thorburn had two ranking points deducted for "bringing the game into disrepute" due to failing a drugs test at the 1988 British Open. Thorburn had been found to have small traces of cocaine in his urine sample. Thorburn was also barred from the first two ranking events of the 1988–89 season as part of his punishment.Acteson Steve Thorburn sentence ridiculed as lenient The Times London 44 13 May 1988https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/snooker-three-players-fail-drug-tests-but-remain-anonymous-1155528.html Snooker: three players fail drugs tests but remain anonymous 10 April 1998 The Independent 3 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20190416152110/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/snooker-three-players-fail-drug-tests-but-remain-anonymous-1155528.html 16 April 2019 live Without the deduction of the two points, Thorburn would have been ranked a place higher, at fifth.Smith 1988 20–29 Of the players who had only been competing professionally for one season, Martin Clark was the highest-ranked, at 41st, with Gary Wilkinson at 44th the next-highest.Smith 1988 25 Alain Robidoux received two walkovers at the 1988 World Snooker Championship before losing in the third round and gained a ranking of 102nd without winning a match.Everton Clive Canadian in by the back door The Guardian London 2 January 1988 20Embassy world snooker: survival of the qualifiers Snooker Scene Everton's News Agency Birmingham May 1988 8–13Smith 1988 25 Points tariff and basis of ranking thumb|alt=Stephen Hendry playing snooker|Stephen Hendry (pictured in 2010) won two ranking titles in the 1987–88 season. The placings in the 1988–89 rankings were determined by players' performances in the ranking tournaments held across two seasons, from 1986 to 1988.Smith 1988 20–21 From the 1986–87 season they were the 1986 International Open won by Foulds; the 1986 Grand Prix and the 1987 British Open both won by White; and the 1986 UK Championship, the 1987 Classic and the 1987 World Championship all won by Davis.Hale 1987 13–21 In the 1987–88 season, Davis won four of the six ranking titles: the 1987 International Open, the 1987 UK Championship, the 1988 Classic and the 1988 World Championship.Barnes Simon Why Davis is hooked on winning The Times London 44 26 April 1988 Hendry won the other two, the 1987 Grand Prix and the 1988 British Open.Hayton Dee 2004 41–46 The rankings were based on a system of points described in the table below.Smith 1988 20–21 The ranking order was determined as follows:Smith 1988 20–21 By number of ranking points. If there was a tie on points, the player who earned more points in the most recent season was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player with more merit points was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player who earned more merit points in the most recent season was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player who earned more merit points in the season prior to the most recent was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player with more A points was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player with more frames won was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player with the better performance in the previous World Championship was given the higher ranking. If there was still a tie, the player with the better performance in the previous ranking tournament was given the higher ranking, going back through ranking events until the positions could be established. +Points tariff contributing to the Snooker world rankings 1988–89Hale Janice How the rankings work Snooker Scene Everton's News Agency Birmingham 14 September 1985 Smith 1988 20–21Placing1987 and 1988 world championshipsOther ranking tournaments 1986–87 and 1987–88Champion 10 6 Runner-up 8 5 Losing semi-finalist 6 4 Losing quarter-finalist 4 3 Last 16 Loser 2 2 Last 32 Loser 1 ranking point or 2 merit pointsPlayers who qualified received a ranking point. Players exempted until this round received two merit points.Smith 1988 20–211Final qualifying round loser 2 merit points 1 merit point Penultimate qualifying round loser 1 merit point 1 A point Antepenultimate qualifying round loser 1 A point Frames won counted Preliminary round loser Frames won counted – Rankings Key: "(New)" denotes a player that was a new professional for 1987–88.Smith 1988 22–23 "(NT)" denotes a "non-tournament" player, i.e. a player who was permitted to enter the world championship but no other tournaments in 1988–89. "(NewNT)" is a player who was a new, non-tournament professional for 1987–88, allowed to play only in the world championship that season.Smith 1988 22–23 "–" denotes that the player did not compete in the tournament. "X" denotes that the player was banned from competing in the tournament.Smith 1988 24–25 +Snooker world rankings 1988–89WPBSA world rankings Snooker Scene Everton's News Agency Birmingham 16–17 July 1986 WPBSA world rankings Snooker Scene Everton's News Agency Birmingham 24–25 June 1988 Smith 1988 22–23 Ranking Name 1986–87 season 1987–88 season Ranking points Merit A points Frames IO GP UK Cl BO WC IO GP UK Cl BO WC 1Steve Davis ENG 3 3 66 1 10 6 26 6 0 10 59 1 0 0 2Jimmy White ENG 0 6 2 56 6 2 1 52 3 644 1 0 0 3Neal Foulds ENG 64 5 0 5 6 10 0 12 434 3 0 0 4Stephen Hendry SCO 13 04 04 4 60 36 2 33 2 10 5Terry Griffiths WAL 2 2 2 3 24 1 2 3 3 18 330 0 0 6Cliff Thorburn CAN 50 3 1 4 05 1 3 1 46 31Fined two points for failing a drugs testActeson Steve 13 May 1988 Thorburn sentence ridiculed as lenient The Times London 44 30 0 7John Parrott ENG 0 1 4 30 2 2 43 5 4 2 30 20 0 8Tony Knowles ENG 23 3 0 40 23 2 41 4 28 30 0 9Mike Hallett ENG 0 22 1 1 4 4 0 30 5 2 24 3 00 10Dennis Taylor NIR 2 2 1 0 32 1 5 1 3 1 223 1 00 11Joe Johnson ENG 1 01 1 28 01 41 2 2 23 2 00 12Silvino Francisco RSA 1982 3 41 3 1 22 12 2 1 0 22 20 0 13Willie Thorne ENG 02 2 02 0 13 4 1 22 19 4 0 0 14Peter Francisco RSA 1982 4 11 2 1 0 04 1 21 1 18 3 0 0 15John Virgo ENG 1 1 11 31 3 11 2 11 17 0 00 16Cliff Wilson WAL 3 1 0 32 0 1 21 1 11 16 3 00 17Alex Higgins NIR 1 2 4 1 0 2X X 22 0 0 14 40 0 18Rex Williams ENG 2 5 0 1 20 0 0 0 0 30 13 9 00 19Eddie Charlton AUS 10 1 2 1 0 3 2 0 0 02 126 0 0 20Tony Drago MLT 11 300 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 124 2 0 21Eugene Hughes IRL 4 0 2 0 1 13 0 1 00 012 70 0 22Dean Reynolds ENG 3 0 2 4 1 1 0 0 0 10 012 70 0 23Dene O'Kane NZL 10 1 0 0 4 0 0 2 03 0 11 1 6 0 24Doug Mountjoy WAL 12 1 0 2 2 0 0 01 0 2 115 00 25Steve Newbury WAL 0 2 0 0 00 1 3 04 00 10 82 0 26Barry West ENG 1 0 02 1 1 0 01 2 1 1 10 40 0 27John Spencer ENG 0 0 21 3 0 10 0 12 0 10 8 0 0 28David Taylor ENG 20 1 03 11 01 1 0 0 10 6 0 0 29Bob Chaperon CAN 2 1 00 0 0 1 3 00 11 9 6 0 0 30Steve Longworth ENG 0 0 2 1 0 21 01 1 0 1 95 0 0 31Tony Meo ENG 03 1 2 0 0 10 1 1 0 09 8 0 0 32Steve James ENG 0 0 00 1 0 2 0 00 1 4 82 4 7 33John Campbell AUS 01 0 2 0 1 0 02 0 1 18 6 0 0 34Wayne Jones WAL 01 3 2 0 0 10 00 01 8 5 2 0 35Joe O'Boye IRL 0 1 0 0 00 3 0 0 03 0 7 7 2 0 36Dave Martin ENG 01 1 1 1 0 00 03 0 07 9 0 0 37Kirk Stevens CAN 0 0 11 2 0 01 1 0 – 17 6 0 0 38Jim Wych CAN 1 1 1 00 1 1 1 1 0 0 07 4 1 0 39David Roe ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 20 2 0 63 5 0 40Ray Reardon WAL 1 0 1 0 12 0 0 00 10 6 5 1 0 41 Martin Clark ENG (New) – – – – – – 2 10 2 00 52 0 8 42Tommy Murphy NIR 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 01 20 0 5 8 2 0 43Danny Fowler ENG 00 0 20 00 0 20 0 1 5 7 3 0 44Warren King AUS 1 1 0 0 11 0 0 0 00 1 5 4 3 0 45Gary Wilkinson ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 2 0 0 2 04 2 1 9 46Graham Cripsey ENG 0 0 00 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 04 10 1 0 47Bill Werbeniuk CAN 0 0 01 0 0 1 10 0 01 4 81 0 48Murdo MacLeod SCO 0 0 00 0 20 0 00 2 0 411 0 0 49Tony Jones ENG 0 0 10 1 0 0 0 00 2 0 47 3 0 50Steve Duggan ENG 1 0 02 1 0 0 0 0 00 0 4 5 5 0 51Tony Chappel WAL 0 0 0 00 0 01 2 0 00 3 11 1 0 52Mark Bennett WAL 01 0 0 0 1 0 00 1 0 0 3 6 212 53Ken Owers ENG 2 0 0 00 0 0 0 01 00 3 5 4 2 54Paddy Browne IRL 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 10 32 8 0 55Ray Edmonds ENG 0 0 0 00 0 01 1 00 0 25 6 0 56Nigel Gilbert ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 2 35 6 57Dave Gilbert ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 2 27 10 58Mick Fisher ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 00 0 0 21 5 13 59Pat Houlihan ENG 1 0 00 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 02 1 4 16 60Roger Bales ENG 1 0 00 00 0 10 0 0 02 0 10 0 61Jon Wright ENG 0 0 01 0 1 00 0 00 0 2 7 3 2 62Les Dodd ENG 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 02 5 5 0 63Marcel Gauvreau CAN 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 6 0 64Jack McLaughlin NIR 0 1 0 01 0 0 0 0 00 0 25 5 0 65Graham Miles ENG 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 10 0 0 1 7 4 0 66Robby Foldvari AUS 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 6 0 67Colin Roscoe WAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 4 7 68Paul Medati ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 7 0 69Paul Gibson ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 10 70Brian Rowswell ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 7 1 71Vic Harris ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 5 10 72Martin Smith ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 3 22 73Jim Chambers ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 5 74Jim Donnelly SCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 7 15 75Malcolm Bradley ENG 0 001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 5 0 76Mark Wildman ENG 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 5 0 77Bob Harris ENG 0 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 6 0 78Geoff Foulds ENG 1 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 1 79Robbie Grace RSA 1982 00 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 13 80Anthony Kearney IRL 0 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 10 81John Rea SCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 5 82Mario Morra CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3 10 83Fred Davis ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 7 0 84Bill Oliver ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 7 85Eddie Sinclair SCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 11 86Jim Bear CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 2 87 Jimmy van Rensberg RSA 1982 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 0 88 Matt Gibson SCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 7 89Ian Williamson ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 4 90George Scott ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 0 91Gino Rigitano CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 11 92John Dunning ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 12 93Eric Lawlor ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 9 94Jim Meadowcroft ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 9 95Glen Wilkinson AUS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 10 96Ian Black SCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 7 97Bernie Mikkelsen CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 98Paul Watchorn IRL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 14 99Jackie Rea NIR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 16 100Mike Darrington ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 24 101Terry Whitthread ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 19 102Alain Robidoux CAN (NewNT) – – – – – – – – – – – 0 0 1 0 0 103Patsy Fagan IRL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 10 104Greg Jenkins AUS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 13 105Pascal Burke IRL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 16 106Frank Jonik CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 20 107Ian Anderson AUS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 108Mike Watterson ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 20 109Jim Rempe USA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 110Billy Kelly IRL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 18 111Dennis Hughes ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 112Dave Chalmers ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 30 113François Ellis RSA 1982 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 19 114Jack Fitzmaurice ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 16115Dessie Sheehan IRL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 35 116Anthony Harris ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 117Steve Meakin ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 118Jason Smith ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 17 119Robert Marshall ENG (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 120Clive Everton WAL (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14 121Derek Mienie RSA 1982 (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 19 122John Hargreaves ENG (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14 123Derek Heaton ENG (NT) (New) – – – – – – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 124Paul Thornley CAN (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 125David Greaves ENG (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 28 126Mike Hines RSA 1982 (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 127Maurice Parkin ENG (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 128Bert Demarco SCO (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 129Bernard Bennett ENG (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 130Joe Cagianello CAN (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 131Eddie McLaughlin SCO (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 132Steve Mizerak USA (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 133Gerry Watson CAN (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 134Paddy Morgan AUS (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 135James Giannaros AUS (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 136Lou Condo AUS (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 137Manuel Francisco RSA 1982 (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 138Wayne Sanderson CAN (NT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1987–88 1989–90 1988–89 Notes References Books Everton Clive 1986 Benson and Hedges Snooker Year Third Aylesbury Pelham Books 978-0-86369-166-9 Hale Janice 1987 Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88 Aylesbury Queen Anne Press 978-0-356-14690-4 Hayton Eric Dee John 2004 The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History Rose Villa Publications Lowestoft 978-0-9548549-0-4 Morrison Ian 1987 The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker Revised Twickenham Hamlyn Publishing Group 978-0-600-55604-6 Terry Smith 1988 Benson and Hedges Snooker Year Fifth Aylesbury Pelham Books 20–29 978-0-7207-1830-0 1988 Rankings 1989 Rankings 1988