NEIL: IT’S RANK STUPIDITY

NEIL ROBERTSON has blasted snooker’s ranking system – branding it “stupid” as he battles to qualify for January’s Masters event.

The former world champion (left) says the list, based on prize money, is “skewed” – and was devised by “someone who doesn’t know what they are doing”.

That may ruffle feathers at governing body World Snooker – in particular with chairman Barry Hearn (right), who drove the change. But Australian Robertson, 35, insists the money is weighted far too heavily to event winners, and overall to a few key tournaments including the World Championship.

Now at risk of missing the Masters event – restricted to the elite top 16 – he favours replacing the two-year rolling system with a one-year allocated points-based approach favoured by tennis. Robertson said: “The snooker ranking system is wrong, there is no doubt about that. Being based on a prize-money list is stupid.

“Whoever has come up with it doesn’t know what they are doing, no other sport in the world does it. On matches won last season I was one of the highest, but a title can see people move up miles.

“I would copy and paste the tennis ranking system.”