Double delight for Lee

It was double delight for Stephen Lee in Newport as he won his first ranking title in four years and virtually secured his place among the top 16 for another season.

The 31-year-old from Trowbridge was previously in danger of dropping out of the elite having slipped to 17th in the provisional rankings, but he has now jumped to ninth.

His 9-4 defeat of world champion Shaun Murphy in the final of the Welsh Open last weekend gave Lee his fourth ranking title.

"I've been trying not to think about the rankings but I have been under a lot of pressure," said the former Grand Prix, LG Cup and Scottish Open champion. "I'm over the moon. To win any tournament these days is a great achievement because the standard is so high."

Murphy was competing in his first final since his Crucible victory last May. Despite defeat he is up two places in the latest list to no. 5.

Stephen Hendry still tops the list despite his first round exit in Wales, with John Higgins edging above Ronnie O'Sullivan into second.

Barry Hawkins, one of snooker's most consistent performers over the past two seasons, reached the semi-finals and climbs to eighth. Anthony Hamilton also appeared in the last four in Wales and he leaps eight places to 15th.

Thailand's James Wattana boosted his hopes of a top 32 place by reaching the quarter-finals and rising four spots to no. 30.

Meanwhile, the talented Jamie Cope, 20, got to the last 16 before being edged out 5-4 by Murphy and continues his swift climb up the list, up seven places to no. 55.

China's world junior champion Liang Wenbo and Bristol's 16-year-old prodigy Judd Trump both came through the qualifying rounds and both look to have secured their place on next season's professional circuit.

Malta's Tony Drago is now 47th in the provisional rankings and Alex Borg 82nd.

Camilleri to officiate in China Open

Maltese snooker referee Terry Camilleri has been appointed to officiate in the China Open, to be played in Beijing between March 20 and 26.

For Camilleri, this will be the first time that he will be officiating in a tournament in China after being selected by the World Snooker Association as one of the six referees for the ranking event.

This season Camilleri has already presided over matches in three other ranking events, namely the Grand Prix, the UK Championship and the Malta Cup.