Snooker world rankings 1988/1989

rdf:langString Snooker world rankings 1988/1989

rdf:langString No. 1:Steve Davis

rdf:langString No. 1: Steve Davis

rdf:langString No. 2: Jimmy White

rdf:langString No. 3: Neal Foulds

rdf:langString The professional world rankings for the 1988–89 season are listed below. 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. The top 32 ranked players were exempt from the early qualifying rounds of the other ranking tournaments. The top three players in the snooker world rankings 1987/1988 kept the same positions this season. Steve Davis was ranked first, with 59 points, ahead of Jimmy White with 44 and Neal Foulds with 34. In fourth place, with 33 points, was Stephen Hendry, who rose from 23rd position on the previous year's list. The other players to join the elite "top 16" were Peter Francisco, John Virgo, and Cliff Wilson. The players dropping out of the top 16 were Alex Higgins, Rex Williams, Dean Reynolds and Doug Mountjoy. Higgins had been banned from competing in the first two ranking tournaments of the 1987/1988 season, and this was the first year since the rankings were instituted in 1976/1977 that he was not among the top 16. In May 1988, Cliff 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 1988/1989 season as part of his punishment. Without the deduction of the two points, Thorburn would have been ranked a place higher, at fifth. Of the players who had only been competing professionally for one season, Martin Clark was the highest-ranked, at 41st.