Newly-crowned UK champion, John Higgins, has tightened his grip at the top of snooker's ranking list, with a lead of 11,505 points over second-placed Ronnie O'Sullivan. Both will be in action in the forthcoming Irish Snooker Open at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, on December 15th to 20th.

O'Sullivan didn't compete in Bournemouth last week but is returning to this country having been stripped of the Benson and Hedges Irish Masters title earlier in the year, because of drug abuse.