Dan Tristao heads the new Singles Rankings — Ed Kay moves up to 2nd

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Updated rankings reflecting results from the Yorkshire and West of England Championships held in October have now been posted. These rankings will be eagerly awaited by some since they form the basis for seeding the forthcoming National Singles Qualifiers.

Since the end of 2013 Dan Tristao and Will Ellison have occupied the top 2 positions in the Singles Rankings. Dan Grant has knocked on the door but no-one until now has broken into this duumvirate. Deservedly Ed Kay is that man, overtaking Will Ellison at no. 2. Ed won both the London and Yorkshire events, in the course of which picking up wins against both Dan and Will. Dan Tristao won the other 3 trophies held so far in the 2017-18 season and maintains a clear lead at the top.

Other changes in the top ten are minimal. Ed Hawke moves into the top 20 after winning the Plate in Yorkshire (actually, so it seems, in Lancashire). And congratulations to Ben Kirwan for winning a tough Singles Plate in the WofE — he enters the rankings at no. 33. Other new entries are Chris Davey and Ali Jones, who both picked up good wins at Bristol. Other players making good progress are Peter Winzeler, Sid Bhushan and Nick Geere.

My apologies to Lewis Keates, who was omitted from the last rankings in error. This arose due to a mix-up of Lewis Keates with Tim Lewis, a mistake that is not often made.

The Doubles Rankings see Will Ellison maintaining a strong lead at the top, with Dan Grant a rather distant second. Charlie Brooks, who has been absent from the scene so far this season, drops down to no. 5, allowing Dan Tristao and Ed Kay to move up.

Sam Russell enters the top 20 at no. 16 after reaching the Yorkshire final with Ollie Arnold. Elsewhere there are upward moves from Nick Geere, Tom Watkinson, Neil Roberts, Andrew Boyd, Ed Hawke and Inigo Ackland. Bob Sandie re-enters the rankings at no. 58 — I look forward to seeing a photo of his celebratory meal on Facebook — and Richard Christie is another new entry.

Before closing I will take a little time out to summarise the seeding process for the National Singles. The highest ranked top four players will get byes to the Finals and will be seeded 1-4. The rankings published today will be used for seeding in each of the Regional Qualifying events. A “re-ranking” adjustment (too complicated to explain here) is made following the Qualifiers. This rewards success (or otherwise) in these events. The resulting rankings are then used to seed positions 5-16 for the Finals. If required, reserves will be offered places based on their ranking. Good luck!

 

To see the full official rankings, just click on the link below.

Official RFA rankings (opens in separate window).

The official RFA rankings are prepared by Dave Hebden.