Ronnie O'Sullivan moves further ahead at top of snooker world rankings, Luca Brecel and Zhao Xintong on the rise

Ronnie O'Sullivan's position as world No. 1 looks likely to last for some time after he moved further ahead at the top of the rankings in Leicester. Despite losing in the last 32 of the Championship League at the Morningside Arena, the world champion consolidated the coveted top spot by picking up another 5,000 points.

Ad/> He moves onto £777,500 in the provisional end of season rankings after the first event of the 2022/23 campaign. Championship League'I feel fantastic' – Brecel claims third ranking title with Championship League gloryYESTERDAY AT 21:42 With provisional world No. 2 Neil Robertson opting out of a trip to Leicester, O'Sullivan is 336,500 points clear of the Masters champion boosted by the £500,000 he collected for winning his seventh world title in May.

Crucible finalist and 2019 world champion Judd Trump collected 2,000 points in exiting the Championship League at the first group stage and is a further 3,000 adrift of the Australian player in third place. Belgium's Luca Brecel has moved up to seventh in the provisional list after earning £36,000 from his exploits in lifting the third ranking title of his career at the Championship League with a 3-1 win over Lu Ning. He is guaranteed at least another 3,000 points from reaching the last 64 of the European Masters – the season's second ranking event – which takes place in the German city of Furth between 16-21 August, live on Eurosport.