List of world number one snooker players

Mark Selby is the current world number one

There have been three ranking systems in place in professional snooker since 1975, which have seen eleven players hold the number-one rank: Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui.[1]

History

An Order of Merit was introduced for the 1975/1976 season, which saw Ray Reardon ranked in the top position. This system was only in place for a season before being replaced by the world rankings, which saw successive periods of dominance for the first 22 seasons by Ray Reardon (1976/1977–1982/1983), Steve Davis (1983/1984–1989/1990) and Stephen Hendry (1990/1991–1997/1998), interrupted only by the 1981/1982 season when Cliff Thorburn held the position. The following period (1998/1999–2009/2010) was shared by Ronnie O'Sullivan (five seasons), John Higgins (three seasons) and Mark Williams (three seasons), while Hendry regained the position for the 2006/2007 season. In the first 34 years of the world rankings, only seven players held the number-one position.[2]

This period of dominance ended with the restructuring of the rankings system for the 2010/2011 season, which saw the world rankings updated after each tournament carrying ranking points, rather than just once a year after the World Championship as under the previous system. Since the introduction of the new system, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui have all attained the number-one rank. Selby has also finished the season seven times ranked in first place, between 2010/2011 and 2017/2018, putting him in joint second place overall with Reardon and Davis (seven times each) behind Hendry (nine times).

Sometimes other factors besides performance in ranking events impact upon the rankings. Alex Higgins would have been ranked number 1 in 1982/1983, but had ranking points deducted as a result of disciplinary action,[3][4] and similarly, Robertson assumed the number-one spot earlier than would have been possible if John Higgins hadn't received a six-month ban in 2010.[5] John Higgins would also have finished the 2010/2011 season ranked number 1 if he weren't banned, since the points he was guaranteed from participating in the tournaments he missed would have been enough for him to take the top spot,[6] and similarly O'Sullivan's decision not to enter the Malta Cup during the 2005/2006 season cost him the top rank for the following season, since the entry points on offer would have been enough for him to retain the position.[7]

Number one players

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry share the record for fastest rise to the number one rank, both achieving this feat in just five seasons. Hendry also holds the record for most seasons at number one under the traditional system, with nine seasons (1990/1991–1997/1998 and again in 2006/2007). His first spell of eight consecutive seasons in this position is also a record.[8] Under the rolling ranking format, Mark Selby holds both the total and consecutive records.

Periods

The snooker players ranked number one in the world are listed below for each period since rankings officially began in 1976/77.[9][10] Even though the rankings officially started in 1976, an Order of Merit was published in 1975 to determine the seedings for events. It used the same criteria that was used to determine the first set of official rankings the following year.[2]

Sortable table
No.NationalityPlayerFromTo
1 WalesRay Reardon3 May 1975[11]20 April 1981
2 CanadaCliff Thorburn21 April 198116 May 1982
 WalesRay Reardon (2)17 May 19822 May 1983
3 EnglandSteve Davis3 May 198329 April 1990
4 ScotlandStephen Hendry30 April 19904 May 1998
5 ScotlandJohn Higgins5 May 19981 May 2000
6 WalesMark Williams2 May 20006 May 2002
7 EnglandRonnie O'Sullivan7 May 20025 May 2003
 WalesMark Williams (2)6 May 20033 May 2004
 EnglandRonnie O'Sullivan (2)4 May 20041 May 2006
 ScotlandStephen Hendry (2)2 May 20067 May 2007
 ScotlandJohn Higgins (2)8 May 20075 May 2008
 EnglandRonnie O'Sullivan (3)6 May 20083 May 2010
 ScotlandJohn Higgins (3)4 May 201026 September 2010[12]
8 AustraliaNeil Robertson[13]27 September 201012 December 2010[14]
 ScotlandJohn Higgins[15] (4)13 December 20102 May 2011[16]
 WalesMark Williams[17] (3)3 May 201111 September 2011[18]
9 EnglandMark Selby[19]12 September 20114 November 2012[20]
10 EnglandJudd Trump[21]5 November 20129 December 2012[22]
 EnglandMark Selby[23] (2)10 December 201217 February 2013[24]
 EnglandJudd Trump[25] (2)18 February 201331 March 2013[26]
 EnglandMark Selby[27] (3)1 April 20139 June 2013[28]
 AustraliaNeil Robertson[29] (2)10 June 20135 May 2014[30]
 EnglandMark Selby[31] (4)6 May 20146 July 2014[32]
 AustraliaNeil Robertson[33] (3)7 July 201410 August 2014[34]
 EnglandMark Selby[35] (5)11 August 20147 December 2014[36]
11 ChinaDing Junhui[37]8 December 201414 December 2014[38]
 AustraliaNeil Robertson[39] (4)15 December 201424 January 2015[40]
 ChinaDing Junhui[41] (2)25 January 20158 February 2015[42]
 EnglandMark Selby[43] (6)9 February 2015Present
Key
Rankings updated once a year after the World Championship

Total time spent at number one

Season-end number-one players

Other statistics

Players who were ranked world number one without having won the World Professional Championship
PlayerDate of first No. 1 positionFirst World Championship final[44]First World Championship title
Mark Selby12 September 20112007 World Snooker Championship (6–7 May 2007)2014 World Snooker Championship (4–5 May 2014)
Judd Trump5 November 20122011 World Snooker Championship (1–2 May 2011)none
Ding Junhui8 December 20142016 World Snooker Championship (1–2 May 2016)none

References

  1. ↑ "China's Ding To Top Rankings". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Osley, Richard; Gray, Sadie (25 July 2010). "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins is dead". The Independent. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Alex Higgins: The genius". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Higgins cleared of bribery claims". BBC Sport. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Rankings after 2011 World Champs" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "2005-6 Main Tour Two Year Rankings Updated 01/05/06 after 888.com World Championship". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008.
  8. ↑ Årdalen, Hermund. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  9. ↑ Turner, Chris. "World Number Ones". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  10. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  11. ↑ "Reardon Retains Title". The Canberra Times. 3 May 1975. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "2010 World Open results". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "Neil Robertson beats Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Open". BBC Sport. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  14. ↑ "12Bet.com UK Championship 2010". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  15. ↑ Hirschowitz, Ivan. "Higgins – My Finest Hour". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  16. ↑ "Betfred.com World Championship (2011)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "Chinese Cracker Into Semis". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Shanghai Masters (2011)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  19. ↑ "Mark Selby beats Mark Williams to win Shanghai Masters". BBC Sport. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  20. ↑ "International Championship (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  21. ↑ "Trump Hammers Ebdon To Become No 1". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  22. ↑ "williamhill.com UK Championship (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  23. ↑ "UK Snooker Championship 2012: Mark Selby beats Mark Davis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  24. ↑ "BetVictor Welsh Open (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  25. ↑ "Updated Rankings – Trump Back On Top". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  26. ↑ "Bank of Beijing China Open (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Official world rankings issued after the China Open 2013" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  28. ↑ "European Tour Event One (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  29. ↑ "Issued after the Bulgarian Open 2013 (ET1)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  30. ↑ "Dafabet World Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  31. ↑ Skilbeck, John (5 May 2014). "Mark Selby dedicates first world title to late father". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  32. ↑ "Australian Goldfields Open (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  33. ↑ "World Rankings after the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  34. ↑ "European Tour Event One (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  35. ↑ "World Rankings after the Riga Open 2014 (ET1)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  36. ↑ "Coral UK Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  37. ↑ "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.
  38. ↑ "Kreativ Dental European Tour Event Five (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  39. ↑ "World Rankings after the Kreativ Dental Lisbon Open 2014 (ET5)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  40. ↑ "Asian Tour Event Three (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  41. ↑ "World Rankings after the Xuzhou Open 2015 (AT3)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  42. ↑ "Kreativ Dental German Masters (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  43. ↑ "World Rankings after the German Masters 2015" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  44. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 February 2011.

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