List of world number one snooker players

Highest ranked snooker players

photo of Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark Allen is the current world number one.

The sport of snooker has utilised a world rankings system since 1975, used to seed players on the World Snooker Tour for tournaments. Originally rankings were published once a year, at the culmination of the season, however, since 2010, the rankings have been changed to be updated after every ranking tournament.[1] The number one ranking has been held by twelve players; Ray Reardon was the first to hold the position, and was followed by Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and Mark Allen.

Hendry held the number one position for the longest time under the annual format, holding it for nine years in total. Since it changed to a rolling format in 2010, Selby has held the rank longer than anyone else.

History

Hendry at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
Stephen Hendry ended the season ranked at number one on nine occasions; more season finishes in the top spot than any other player.

The sport of professional snooker first adopted a ranking system for the 1975–76 season, which saw Ray Reardon ranked in the top position. An Order of Merit was published in the 1975/76 season to determine the seedings for events, and the first set of official rankings the following year used the same criteria.[2][3] Certain events carried ranking points, and at the end of the season, they were tallied. The World Snooker Championship originally was the only event to offer ranking points, until the 1982 International Open.[4] Over the next 22 seasons, five men held the first position; Reardon (1976/77 to 1980/81), Cliff Thorburn (1981/82), Reardon again for 1982/83[note 1], Steve Davis (1983/84 to 1989/90) and Stephen Hendry (1990/91 to 1997/98). From 1998/99 to 2009/10, the title was shared by Ronnie O'Sullivan (five seasons), John Higgins (three seasons) and Mark Williams (three seasons), while Hendry regained the position for the 2006/07 season. In the first 34 years of the world rankings, only seven players held the number one position.[2]

For the 2010–11 snooker season, the world rankings were changed to be updated after each tournament carrying ranking points.[7] This was altered from the 2014–15 snooker season, where ranking points were based entirely on the prize money won from qualifying events.[8] Since the introduction of the new system, Higgins, Neil Robertson, Williams, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, and O'Sullivan have all attained the number one rank.[3] Selby has also seven seasons ranked in first place, putting him in joint third place overall with Reardon and Davis, O'Sullivan is in second with (eight times) and behind Hendry (nine times).[3][9]

List of players

Hendry holds the record for most seasons at number one under the traditional system, with nine seasons (1990/1991–1997/1998 and again in 2006–07). His first spell of eight consecutive seasons in this position is also a record.[10] Under the rolling ranking format, Mark Selby holds both the total and consecutive records.[3]

Periods

The snooker players ranked number one in the world are listed below for each period since the introduction of the ranking system.[11][12]

Number one players
No. Nationality Player From To Ref
1  Wales Ray Reardon 3 May 1975 20 April 1981 [3][13]
2  Canada Cliff Thorburn 21 April 1981 16 May 1982 [3]
 Wales Ray Reardon (2) 17 May 1982 2 May 1983 [3][note 1]
3  England Steve Davis 3 May 1983 29 April 1990 [3]
4  Scotland Stephen Hendry 30 April 1990 4 May 1998 [3]
5  Scotland John Higgins 5 May 1998 1 May 2000 [3]
6  Wales Mark Williams 2 May 2000 6 May 2002 [3]
7  England Ronnie O'Sullivan 7 May 2002 5 May 2003 [3]
 Wales Mark Williams (2) 6 May 2003 3 May 2004 [3]
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 4 May 2004 1 May 2006 [3]
 Scotland Stephen Hendry (2) 2 May 2006 7 May 2007 [3]
 Scotland John Higgins (2) 8 May 2007 5 May 2008 [3]
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) 6 May 2008 3 May 2010 [3]
 Scotland John Higgins (3) 4 May 2010 26 September 2010 [14]
8  Australia Neil Robertson 27 September 2010 12 December 2010 [15][16]
 Scotland John Higgins (4) 13 December 2010 2 May 2011 [17][18]
 Wales Mark Williams (3) 3 May 2011 11 September 2011 [19][20]
9  England Mark Selby 12 September 2011 4 November 2012 [21][22]
10  England Judd Trump 5 November 2012 9 December 2012 [23][24]
 England Mark Selby (2) 10 December 2012 17 February 2013 [25][26]
 England Judd Trump (2) 18 February 2013 31 March 2013 [27][28]
 England Mark Selby (3) 1 April 2013 9 June 2013 [29][30]
 Australia Neil Robertson (2) 10 June 2013 5 May 2014 [31][32]
 England Mark Selby (4) 6 May 2014 6 July 2014 [33][34]
 Australia Neil Robertson (3) 7 July 2014 10 August 2014 [35][36]
 England Mark Selby (5) 11 August 2014 7 December 2014 [37][38]
11  China Ding Junhui 8 December 2014 14 December 2014 [39][40][41]
 Australia Neil Robertson (4) 15 December 2014 24 January 2015 [42][43]
 China Ding Junhui (2) 25 January 2015 8 February 2015 [44][45]
 England Mark Selby (6) 9 February 2015 24 March 2019 [46]
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 25 March 2019 11 August 2019 [3]
 England Judd Trump (3) 12 August 2019 22 August 2021 [3]
 England Mark Selby (7) 23 August 2021 17 October 2021 [3]
 England Judd Trump (4) 18 October 2021 7 November 2021 [47]
 England Mark Selby (8) 8 November 2021 3 April 2022 [48]
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) 4 April 2022 6 May 2024 [49]
12  Northern Ireland Mark Allen 7 May 2024 Present

Total time spent at number one

Annual format (1975–2010)

Annual format[3]
Years Longest
consecutive
period		 Nationality Player
9 8  Scotland Stephen Hendry
7 7  England Steve Davis
6  Wales Ray Reardon
5 2  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
3 2  Wales Mark Williams
2  Scotland John Higgins
1 1  Canada Cliff Thorburn


Rolling format (2010–present)

Rolling format[3]
Days Longest
consecutive
period		 Nationality Player
2449 1505  England Mark Selby
904 764  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
840 742  England Judd Trump
483 330  Australia Neil Robertson
287 146  Scotland John Higgins
132 132  Wales Mark Williams
22 15  China Ding Junhui
3 † 3 †  Northern Ireland Mark Allen

† as of 9 May 2024

Players ranked number one at the start of the season

Per season

Seasons held[3]
Season Nationality Player
1975–1976  Wales Ray Reardon (1)
1976–1977  Wales Ray Reardon
1977–1978  Wales Ray Reardon
1978–1979  Wales Ray Reardon
1979–1980  Wales Ray Reardon
1980–1981  Wales Ray Reardon
1981–1982  Canada Cliff Thorburn (2)
1982–1983  Wales Ray Reardon
1983–1984  England Steve Davis (3)
1984–1985  England Steve Davis
1985–1986  England Steve Davis
1986–1987  England Steve Davis
1987–1988  England Steve Davis
1988–1989  England Steve Davis
1989–1990  England Steve Davis
1990–1991  Scotland Stephen Hendry (4)
1991–1992  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1992–1993  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1993–1994  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1994–1995  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1995–1996  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1996–1997  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1997–1998  Scotland Stephen Hendry
1998–1999  Scotland John Higgins (5)
1999–2000  Scotland John Higgins
2000–2001  Wales Mark Williams (6)
2001–2002  Wales Mark Williams
2002–2003  England Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
2003–2004  Wales Mark Williams
2004–2005  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2005–2006  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2006–2007  Scotland Stephen Hendry
2007–2008  Scotland John Higgins
2008–2009  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2009–2010  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2010–2011  Scotland John Higgins
2011–2012  Wales Mark Williams
2012–2013  England Mark Selby (8)
2013–2014  England Mark Selby
2014–2015  England Mark Selby
2015–2016  England Mark Selby
2016–2017  England Mark Selby
2017–2018  England Mark Selby
2018–2019  England Mark Selby
2019–2020  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2020–2021  England Judd Trump (9)
2021–2022  England Judd Trump
2022–2023  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2023–2024  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
2024–2025  Northern Ireland Mark Allen (10)


Per frequency

Number of times held[3]
Seasons Longest
consecutive
period		 Nationality Player
9 8  Scotland Stephen Hendry
8 2  England Ronnie O'Sullivan
7 7  England Steve Davis
7  England Mark Selby
6  Wales Ray Reardon
4 2  Scotland John Higgins
2  Wales Mark Williams
2 2  England Judd Trump
1 1  Canada Cliff Thorburn
1 1  Northern Ireland Mark Allen

See also

  •  Cue sports portal

Notes

  1. ^ a b Alex Higgins would have been ranked number one in the 1982–83 season, but had ranking points deducted as a result of disciplinary action after assaulting a press officer.[5][6]

References

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  2. ^ a b Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Ranking Records". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  4. ^ Hayton, Eric. Cuesport Book of Professional Snooker. p. 149.
  5. ^ Osley, Richard; Gray, Sadie (25 July 2010). "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins is dead". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Alex Higgins: The genius". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. 26 July 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
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  8. ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Suffolk: Rose Villa Publications. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
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  12. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  13. ^ "Reardon Retains Title". The Canberra Times. 3 May 1975. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  14. ^ "2010 World Open results". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
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  20. ^ "Shanghai Masters (2011)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  21. ^ "Mark Selby beats Mark Williams to win Shanghai Masters". BBC Sport. 11 September 2011. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
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  32. ^ "Dafabet World Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  33. ^ Skilbeck, John (5 May 2014). "Mark Selby dedicates first world title to late father". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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  38. ^ "Coral UK Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  39. ^ "World Rankings after the Coral UK Championship 2014" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
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External links

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