Updated world snooker rankings after Kyren Wilson's win at the 2026 International Championship

Kyren Wilson has moved up one place to eighth in the revised world rankings after his title triumph at the International Championship in Nanjing.

The 34-year-old Englishman - who trailed after the first session - took four of the last five frames to defeat John Higgins, 10-8, in a thrilling final to secure the 12th ranking event title of his career.

The last two of those have come in back-to-back tournaments - the 16th player in professional snooker history to achieve that feat - having reclaimed the Northern Ireland Open title only a couple of weekends ago.

Before that successful trip to Belfast, Wilson had gone more than 18 months without appearing in the semi-finals of a ranked competition, and his top 16 status later this season was under threat. However, ‘The Warrior’ has now wiped away those concerns with the £175,000 winner’s purse he collects from his latest Far East journey.

Wilson swaps places with Mark Williams in the new global standings, and he goes up to second in the seasonal ranking list - only behind China Open champion Mark Selby - meaning he will surely qualify for all three Players Series events later this season.

51-year-old Higgins’ quest to become top-flight snooker’s oldest ranking event winner was denied at the final hurdle, but his runner-up result - following a difficult start to the term - sees him zip up from 79th on the one-year list to 12th.

Zhao Xintong stays as world number one

There are no positional changes in the top seven of the world rankings, with world number one Zhao Xintong keeping top spot.

A quarter-finalist on home soil in China, Zhao has extended his lead over second-placed Wu Yize, with just under £49k separating the two compatriots.

Zhao and Wu have established a bit of a gap between themselves and the rest of the pack, although with the next ranking event being the 2026 UK Championship - that carries a top prize of £312,500 - Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are in mathematical contention for world number one with the title in York.

Elsewhere inside the top 16, Mark Allen - despite not playing in the International Championship - goes up a place, replacing Chris Wakelin in 11th due to Wakelin losing the prize money he earned for being the runner-up two years ago.

The player who Wakelin lost to in that 2024 final was Ding Junhui, and despite a spirited defence of his £175,000 ranking money with a quarter-final finish this week, Ding falls outside of the elite 16, dropping eight places to 23rd.

As a consequence, Ali Carter moves up a place to 15th, and a semi-finalist a couple of days ago Chang Bingyu goes into the top 16 for the first time in his career.

The world’s top 16 (provided they all enter) will be the 16 seed players for the UK Championship, meaning they go straight through to the main draw, televised stages at the Barbican in York. Reigning Championship League and British Open champion Jak Jones narrowly missed the cut in 17th, and will need to win two qualifying matches at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.

Further down the world rankings, the Republic of Ireland’s Aaron Hill is up to a career-high placement of 35th, meanwhile 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel moves back into the world’s top 40 at 39th.

International Championship semi-finalist Fan Zhengyi is promoted six spots to 45th - this is good timing as it puts him into the penultimate round of qualifying for the UK Championship being inside the top 48.

A semi-finalist in the Far East two years ago, Xu Si drops seven to 46th.

Having reached his first ranking event quarter-final in over six-and-a-half years, Marco Fu puts himself in a strong position to keep his professional tour card beyond this season as he is now 65th in the main standings, and top of the one-year list for players who are not inside the main 64 and don’t already have a card for next season. The first four from that list all earn a fresh two-year pass.

For the full unofficial world snooker rankings after the 2026 International Championship, visit snooker.org here