Snooker’s four-way scrap to be world number one heats up in Wuhan

Judd Trump is fighting to hold onto his world number one spot, but three challengers are now within touching distance of dethroning him.

The Ace in the Pack has been top of the charts for two years but is now under serious pressure to remain number one.

Trump must win the Wuhan Open this week to hold off his challengers and he is making a good fist of it so far.

The 37-year-old is into the quarter-finals of the tournament he won in 2023, where he will take on dangerous Chinese talent Chang Bingyu.

The three players who can take the number one spot are still in the competition as well, with two of them meeting in the last eight.

Neil Robertson and Zhao Xintong are preparing for a huge clash on Thursday, with the loser out of the race to be number one for now.

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Robertson has downed Ben Mertens, Hossein Vafaei and Liam Davies so far in Wuhan, while Zhao has ousted Gao Yang, Jak Jones and Barry Hawkins.

The other challenger for top spot this week is Mark Selby, who has set up a high profile quarter-final with old rival Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Selby has been in fine form, winning the China Open earlier this month and has kept on winning in Wuhan, beating the Chinese trio of Fan Zhengyi, He Guoqiang and Pang Junxu.

The Jester from Leicester is in the same situation as Trump, knowing he has to be lifting the trophy on Saturday to end the week at the top of the world rankings.

Trump and Selby are on the same side of the draw in Wuhan so would meet in the semi-finals if both win.

With Zhao and Robertson on the other side of the draw, there remains every chance that Saturday’s final could not only decide the winner but also who will be top of the rankings.

This is the first time Trump has been seriously challenged at the top of the rankings for some time and Robertson is relishing the scrap for top spot.

‘I don’t think we’ve been in this position before when there is a run of a couple of events with four or five players in the hunt. That is really exciting,’ said the Australian.

Robertson has had four stints as world number one before, but has not topped the rankings since January 2015, so a return at 44 years old would be an impressive achievement.

‘It is really meaningful the first time that you do it. I was World Champion and world number one at the same time and that was a great feeling,’ he said.

‘It would be pretty special if I could get back there. It will be up and down, you might see three or four players jockey that position this season. It is good for the fans.’

Selby takes on O’Sullivan on Thursday with the Rocket very down on his own performances, but the Jester still expects a serious test.

‘Ronnie not playing his A game is still tough to beat,’ said Selby. ‘For a lot of us, when we’re playing our A game it’s the same as his B game and his A game is unplayable at times.

‘Even if he’s not playing his A game he’s still going to be tough to beat. He’s still got that aura, he always plays in front of a big crowd so I’ll look forward to the occasion.’

In the other quarter-final, defending champion Xiao Guodong continues his quest to make it three Wuhan Open wins on the spin against Mark Williams.

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