Ronnie O'Sullivan must match or better Judd Trump's performance at the Tour Championship this week or risk dropping down to the third seed for the World Championships.
The 'Rocket' is bidding to win all three Triple Crown events in a single season for the first time in his illustrious career.
The feat has only been achieved four time previously with Stephen Hendry the only player to do it twice.
Mark Williams and Steve Davis are the other two players to have won all three Triple Crown events in the same season.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is currently set to be the second seed for the World Championship
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O'Sullivan may have more Triple Crown titles than any other player in the history of the sport, but this is only the second time he's won more than one event in the same season.
The other time came in the 2007/08 season where he lost in the first round of the Masters having won the UK Championship and World Championship that campaign.
O'Sullivan is currently ranked No 1, but he will be seeded second behind reigning world champion Luca Brecel for the showpiece Crucible event.
However, the 48-year-old risks dropping down to the third seed if he fails to perform at the Tour Championship this week.
Trump claimed his fifth major title of the season at the World Open last month to close in on O'Sullivan at the top of the world rankings.
He's now just 18,000 points behind O'Sullivan on the latest provisional ranking list with both players entering this week's Tour Championship at the quarter-final stage.
Trump will move top of the rankings if he wins the Manchester event, or if he reaches the final and O'Sulivan fails to get past the semi-finals.
For O'Sullivan he simply needs to match Trump's performance in order to maintain his position as the world No 1.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will need to match or better Judd Trump's run
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No matter what happens this week, both Trump and O'Sullivan are set to potentially meet in the semi-finals of the World Championship.
Whoever ends up as the third seed in Sheffield - based on current provisional rankings that could still change - would potentially face Tom Ford in the second round before either Shaun Murphy or Gary Wilson in the quarter-finals.
The second seed would currently face the prospect of going up against Barry Hawkins in the second round before taking on either Ding Junhui or Anda Zhang in the quarters.
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Judd Trump has won five major titles this year
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But plenty can still change in the rankings this week while every ranked player will want to avoid the prospect of facing the likes of Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski and Hossein Vafaei who have to come through qualifying.
The qualifying rounds take place next week English Institute of Sport in Sheffield with snooker icon Jimmy White among the players entering the first round.
But seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry has opted against entering this year in what could potentially be his final year on the tour.
