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List of world number one snooker players

Highest ranked snooker players

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 conclusion of a season. Since 2010, however, the rankings were changed so that they would be updated after every ranking tournament. 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

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. 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. 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, 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.

For the 2010–11 snooker season, the world rankings were changed to be updated after each tournament carrying ranking points. This was altered from the 2014–15 snooker season, where ranking points were based entirely on the prize money won from qualifying events. 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. 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).

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. 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 the introduction of the ranking system.

No.	Player	From	To	Ref
	(2)
	(2)
	(2)
	(2)
	(2)
	(3)
	(3)
	(4)
	(3)
10
	(2)
	(2)
	(3)
	(2)
	(4)
	(3)
	(5)
11	{{sortname	Ding	Junhui	Ding Junhui}}
	(4)
	{{sortname	Ding	Junhui	Ding Junhui}} (2)
	(6)
	(4)
	(3)
	(7)
	(4)
	(8)
	(5)
12
	(5)		Present

Total time spent at number one

Annual format (1975–2010)

Years	Longest
consecutive
period	Nationality	Player
9	8
7	7
6
5	2
3	2
2
1	1

Rolling format (2010–present)

Days	Longest
consecutive
period	Nationality	Player
†
			{{sortname	Ding	Junhui

† as of

Players ranked number one at the start of the season

Per season

Season	Nationality	Player
1975–1976		(1)
1976–1977
1977–1978
1978–1979
1979–1980
1980–1981
1981–1982		(2)
1982–1983
1983–1984		(3)
1984–1985
1985–1986
1986–1987
1987–1988
1988–1989
1989–1990
1990–1991		(4)
1991–1992
1992–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995
1995–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998–1999		(5)
1999–2000
2000–2001		(6)
2001–2002
2002–2003		(7)
2003–2004
2004–2005
2005–2006
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008–2009
2009–2010
2010–2011
2011–2012
2012–2013		(8)
2013–2014
2014–2015
2015–2016
2016–2017
2017–2018
2018–2019
2019–2020
2020–2021		(9)
2021–2022
2022–2023
2023–2024
2024–2025		(10)
2025–2026

Per frequency

Seasons	Longest
consecutive
period	Nationality	Player
9	8
8	2
7	7
7
6
4	2
2
3	2
1	1
1

Notes

References

"Rankings FAQ". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
Hayton, Eric. "Cuesport Book of Professional Snooker".
(25 July 2010). "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins is dead". The Independent.
(26 July 2010). "Alex Higgins: The genius". Independent News & Media.
"Williams Supports Rankings Overhall". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
"Ranking Records". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"2005–6 Main Tour Two Year Rankings". Global Snooker.
Årdalen, Hermund. "Ranking History". Snooker.org.
Turner, Chris. "World Number Ones". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
Downer, Chris. (2012). "Crucible Almanac".
(3 May 1975). "Reardon Retains Title". The Canberra Times.
"2010 World Open results". Global Snooker.
(26 September 2010). "Neil Robertson beats Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Open". BBC Sport.
"12Bet.com UK Championship 2010". Global Snooker.
Hirschowitz, Ivan. (14 December 2010). "Higgins – My Finest Hour". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Betfred.com World Championship (2011)". Snooker.org.
(27 April 2011). "Chinese Cracker Into Semis". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Shanghai Masters (2011)". Snooker.org.
(11 September 2011). "Mark Selby beats Mark Williams to win Shanghai Masters". BBC Sport.
"International Championship (2012)". Snooker.org.
(2 November 2012). "Trump Hammers Ebdon To Become No 1". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"williamhill.com UK Championship (2012)". Snooker.org.
Hafez, Shamoon. (8 December 2012). "UK Snooker Championship 2012: Mark Selby beats Mark Davis". BBC Sport.
"BetVictor Welsh Open (2013)". Snooker.org.
(19 February 2013). "Updated Rankings – Trump Back On Top". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Bank of Beijing China Open (2013)". Snooker.org.
"Official world rankings issued after the China Open 2013". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"European Tour Event One (2013)". Snooker.org.
(12 June 2013). "Issued after the Bulgarian Open 2013 (ET1)". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Dafabet World Championship (2014)". Snooker.org.
Skilbeck, John. (5 May 2014). "Mark Selby dedicates first world title to late father". London Evening Standard.
"Australian Goldfields Open (2014)". Snooker.org.
(7 July 2014). "World Rankings after the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"European Tour Event One (2014)". Snooker.org.
(11 August 2014). "World Rankings after the Riga Open 2014 (ET1)". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Coral UK Championship (2014)". Snooker.org.
(8 December 2014). "World Rankings after the Coral UK Championship 2014". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Kreativ Dental European Tour Event Five (2014)". Snooker.org.
(3 December 2014). "China's Ding To Top Rankings". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
(15 December 2014). "World Rankings after the Kreativ Dental Lisbon Open 2014 (ET5)". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Asian Tour Event Three (2015)". Snooker.org.
(27 January 2015). "World Rankings after the Xuzhou Open 2015 (AT3)". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"Kreativ Dental German Masters (2015)". Snooker.org.
(8 February 2015). "World Rankings after the German Masters 2015". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
Caulfield, David. (19 October 2021). "Judd Trump Returns to World Number One Spot".
(8 November 2021). "Rankings update thunder storms to third". wst.tv.
(4 April 2022). "Rankings update: O'Sullivan hits top spot". wst.tv.
(7 May 2024). "Rankings Update: Allen Tops Official List". wst.tv.
(26 August 2024). "Rankings Update: Trump On Top". wst.tv.

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