Shaun Murphy's 19-year unbroken streak inside world snooker's top 16 comes to an end

Regardless of what happens in Saturday’s final between defending champion Xiao Guodong and Gary Wilson, Murphy will finish the tournament in 17th place when the global standings are updated.

Career Triple Crown winner Murphy was in the Far East this week having whitewashed 14-year-old rookie Michal Szubarczyk 5-0 in the qualifying round in Leicester in June.

At the main venue in China, Murphy kept another clean sheet with a 5-0 win over Jordan Brown. However, his tilt at the £140,000 top prize was ended in the last 32 by Wilson who compiled breaks of 61, 54 and 93 during a 5-3 victory.

World number 18 coming into this week, three-time ranking event winner Wilson then dispatched world number one Judd Trump, four-time World Champion John Higgins, and former world number one Mark Allen to reach his sixth ranking event final.

Wilson’s win over Allen in the last four meant he was guaranteed at least £63,000 for his efforts in Wuhan; an amount that puts him back inside the world’s top 16, and demotes Murphy one place to 17th - outside the elite bracket.

World Champion in 2005 as a qualifier who was ranked 48th in the world, Murphy first broke into snooker’s top 16 for the start of the 2006/07 season. Back then, the world rankings were only revised at the end of every season, not like now when they are updated after each and every ranking event.

A sign of his consistency and longevity within the sport, Murphy managed to stay inside the 16 ever since that point...until now.

Murphy’s run was under threat last season, and there was a real possibility that he’d have to qualify for the Crucible stages of the World Championship. However, ‘The Magician’ managed to accumulate enough prize money and maintained his t16 status throughout, but that 19-year streak is now over.

Murphy had the longest, active, unbroken streak of any current top 16 member, but Mark Selby - who first entered the 16 in 2008 - now takes over that particular mantle.

Last season, John Higgins’ 29-year, 10,738-day unbroken stay inside the world’s top 16 rankings - an all-time record - came to a close following the 2024 English Open.

However, just a week later, Higgins was back inside the elite bracket after a run to the final of the British Open, and he is currently ranked sixth in the world with no concerns about his top 16 status this season.

Fellow ‘Class of 92’ members Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams were outside the top 16 at points during the 2010s, while current world number three and newly-minted Saudi Arabia Masters champion Neil Robertson was outside the 16 at the start of this calendar year.

Whilst Murphy’s streak is over, it’s not all doom and gloom for him. Due to the fluid nature of the current ranking system - as shown by Higgins’ turnaround - he could get back in the top 16 very soon.

In the provisional ‘Race to the Crucible’ rankings list, Murphy is currently 10th as he doesn’t have a huge amount of prize money to defend this season.

Should defending Masters Champion Murphy be outside the top 16 when the qualification cut-off for the Alexandra Palace extravaganza comes about in December, it would be irrelevant. As reigning champion - regardless of where he will be ranked - Murphy will be invited back to the prestigious event as the number one seed.