MARK Allen is officially number one in the world rankings for next season after a dramatic day of action at the Crucible on Wednesday.
The Antrim man bowed out of the Cazoo World Championship on Monday night to John Higgins but he hadn’t long to wait for some consolation as the only two players who could have overtaken him on the ranking list before Monday evening were knocked out.
Judd Trump’s hopes of landing a second title were shattered by qualifier Jak Jones in a major quarter-final upset.
Jones, the world number 44, capitalised on an error-strewn display by the 2019 champion to turn an 8-8 overnight tie into a 13-9 win and reach the last four for the first time.
On Wednesday evening, Ronnie O’Sullivan, who needed to win the title to hold on to his number one spot, lost 13-10 to Stuart Bingham, who now faces Jones in the semi-finals, which start on Thursday.
Allen posted on X in the wake of the news: ‘One of my lifetime goals achieved. Not quite the way I’d hoped to get there but I’ll take it. 6 wins, a runner-up and countless semis in the last two seasons and this is my reward. Need to continue the consistency to try and stay there’.
The other semi-final will feature David Gilbert and Kyren Wilson, who were 13-8 winners over Stephen Maguire and John Higgins respectively.
