Higgins joy at top spot

The Wizard of Wishaw beat Mark Selby 18-13 in a gripping final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

His dual achievement has echoes of 1998 when he became world champion and world number one.

He held the top ranking for two seasons and now becomes the fifth player ever to regain pole position, following Ray Reardon, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry from whom Higgins takes over as number one.

"It was nine years ago that I first won this. You think you have a lot of time but then it creeps up on you and other players are going past you in the rankings. So to get back to number one is fantastic," said the 31-year-old Scot.

"To join players like Hendry, O'Sullivan and Williams as winners of the World Championship more than once is a great honour."

Graeme Dott led the provisional rankings when he arrived at the Crucible, but his first round exit against Ian McCulloch means that he finishes at two - his highest career ranking.

Shaun Murphy could have wrestled the top spot from Higgins by winning the tournament but his agonising 17-16 semi-final defeat to Selby leaves him at three. Ken Doherty is next followed by O'Sullivan, who drops out of the top four for the first time in a decade.

Leicester's 23-year-old Selby has gained a place among the top 16 for the first time in his career as he leaps from 28 to 11.

China's 20-year-old Ding Junhui, who became the youngest ever winner of three ranking events when he captured the Northern Ireland Trophy at the start of the campaign, flies up 18 places to nine.

Ryan Day is a third player earning top 16 status for the first time. The three to drop out of the elite are Barry Hawkins, Matthew Stevens and Anthony Hamilton.

Snooker legend Steve Davis has achieved his ambition of retaining his top 16 place when he reaches his 50th birthday in August.

"It's something to be proud of, said the Nugget.

"Not just because of the number of young players coming through, but also because of the rising standard."

Northern Ireland's rising star Mark Allen, who made a sensational Crucible debut by knocking out Doherty, storms up 33 places to 29.

Four other players are into the top 32: two-times ranking finalist Jamie Cope (22), Dave Harold (30), Dominic Dale (31) and Gerard Greene (32).

The five to drop out are James Wattana, David Gray, Alan McManus, Andy Hicks and Robert Milkins.

Welsh Open runner-up Andrew Higginson rises 66 places to 44 while promising teenager Judd Trump is up 21 spots to 51.