Higgins regains top spot

John Higgins regained his number one position in the world rankings following his remarkable victory in the UK Championship early this week.

The Scot came from 9-5 down to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final in Telford to win the 22nd ranking title of his career and become only the fourth player – after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan – to win the UK crown more than twice.

 “It means everything to me to be back playing and winning again. It’s the stuff dreams are made of and my finest hour,” said Higgins, who goes ahead of Neil Robertson.

Williams missed out on his third UK title but is up to third in the rankings. Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen, the losing semi-finalists in Telford, are in fifth and 11th positions respectively.

Mark Joyce got to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career and is up to his best ever position: 47th.

Ricky Walden is up to 15th and among the top 16 for the first time in his career – he replaces Marco Fu who drops to 18th.

The new ranking list has been used for seedings for the next two tournaments: the German Masters and Welsh Open. The next cut-off point will fall after the Welsh Open and will provide seedings for the China Open and the World Championship.