NEW world champion John Higgins is toasting double success after being officially crowned the best player on the planet.
The Wishaw man's return to form at this year's 888.com World Championship in Sheffield has catapulted him back to the ranking's summit.
Higgins, who defeated Leicester qualifier Mark Selby 18-13 in this year's gruelling Crucible final, was last w
orld No 1 in the 1999-2000 season. But it has taken the Scot over seven years to get back to the top after a few barren spells, although he has never fallen out of the elite top 16, which guarantees automatic qualification for tournaments.
In doing so, the 31-year-old becomes only the fifth player ever to have retained the number one ranking. Fellow countryman Stephen Hendry, a seven-time Crucible winner, and former world champions Ray Reardon, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan are the only other players to have lost the No1 mantle and regained it.
"It's a great honour to be world number one again," said Higgins, who was odds-on favourite to beat Selby in Monday's best-of-35 frame showcase having opened up a commanding eight-frame cushion after the first two sessions, only to see his advantage slip to 12-10 after losing all six frames of the final afternoon session.
"I was very successful last season, but during the last few years the number one spot seems to have eluded me. I've always wanted to get back to number one, but it's taken a lot of hard work and commitment to get back there."
No fewer than nine players stood a chance to be No1 before this year's 17-day tournament got under way at snooker's 'Theatre of Dreams'.
But seven of those players, including O'Sullivan, defending champion Graeme Dott and Hendry all fell by the wayside as the pressure took its toll.
Australian player Neil Robertson, Chinese prospect Ding Junhui, 1997 world champion Ken Doherty and current UK champion Peter Ebdon also dropped out of the race as Higgins and semi-finalist Shaun Murphy were left to battle it out for the top prize.
"You work so hard to get somewhere in life, you come into a little bit of money and you just got out and enjoy yourself. I was guilty of that, but I think now I'm playing better than ever," added Higgins, who knocked Hendry off top spot.
"I've knuckled down a lot these last few years and worked hard on my game. I'm a family man and I know I'll never be as dominant as I once was, but I still feel I can win a lot more tournaments, I've still got a lot to offer snooker."
Larkhall's Dott led the provisional rankings when he arrived at the Crucible, but his first-round exit against Preston's Ian McCulloch means that he finishes at No2 - his highest career ranking.
Rotherham's 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 No3. 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 No28 to No11.
China' s 20-year-old Junhui, who became the youngest winner of three ranking events ever when he captured the Northern Ireland Trophy at the start of the campaign, flies up 18 places to No9.
Welshman 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, Anthony Hamilton and Matthew Stevens, twice a beaten finalist at the Crucible and defeated 13-12 in a thrilling quarter-final by Murphy.
Snooker legend Steve Davis, a six-time world champion, 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 Davis. "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 No29.
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 No44 while promising teenager Judd Trump is up 21 spots to No51.
