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Triple Crown (snooker)

Series of professional snooker tournaments

Series of professional snooker tournaments

The Triple Crown in professional snooker refers to winning the sport's three longest-running and most prestigious tournaments: the World Snooker Championship (first held in 1927 and staged as a knockout tournament continuously since 1969), the invitational Masters (held annually since 1975) and the UK Championship (held annually since 1977). In January 2020, the three tournaments were formally named the Triple Crown Series.

Any player who has won all three Triple Crown tournaments at least once over the course of their career is said to have won a "career Triple Crown" and they gain the right to wear an embroidered crown on their waistcoat to reflect the achievement. As of 2026, eleven players have won a career Triple Crown: Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump. O'Sullivan has won the most Triple Crown titles with 23, Hendry 18 and Davis 15.

Davis, Hendry and Williams are the only three players to have won all three Triple Crown events in a single season (Davis in 1987–88, Hendry in both 1989–90 and 1995–96 and Williams in 2002–03).

History

In 1969, the World Snooker Championship became a single elimination tournament, replacing the previous challenge format. This change marks the start of professional snooker's "modern era". Six years later, a non-ranking invitational event, the Masters, was introduced. There were 10 competitors in the inaugural Masters in 1975, later increasing to 16 players. When John Spencer won the 1975 Masters tournament, he became the first person to win two Triple Crown events, having won the world championships in 1969 and 1971. The following year, Ray Reardon won both the Masters and World Championship in the same season.

In 1977, the UK Championship was created. Originally restricted to British residents and passport holders, the tournament was opened to all professionals in 1984 and also became a ranking event. Patsy Fagan won the 1977 UK Championship, in his only Triple Crown final. In the 1980–81 season, Steve Davis won both the UK Championship and the World Championship, and was the first player to complete the career Triple Crown when he won the Masters the following season. Davis was also the first player to complete the season Triple Crown, winning all three events in the 1987–88 season.

The Triple Crown events are sometimes referred to as the "big three BBC events", due to them having been broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation since inception. They are also sometimes called "snooker's majors", or the "big three" events. However, some have questioned the status of the Triple Crown events, arguing that the World Championship is snooker's only major tournament. John Higgins has described the Tour Championship, first held in 2019, as "far bigger than the UK [Championship]".

Triple Crown events are considered the most prestigious snooker titles, and have historically offered the most prize money. However, the total prize money for other events, such as the China Open, has exceeded that of the UK Championship and Masters in recent years. From the 2020 Masters onward, players who have completed the Triple Crown are eligible to have a gold crown embroidered on their playing waistcoats in recognition of the achievement.

In 2023, World Snooker Tour introduced a £147,000 bonus for any player making two maximum breaks during the season's Triple Crown Series. The bonus could be awarded up to three times, for a total of £441,000, if three players each made two maximums. The same player could potentially win £441,000 by making six maximums in the events.

In January 2024, World Snooker Tour introduced a new Triple Crown logo, as part of the new branding of the organisation.

Career Triple Crown winners

Main article: List of snooker Triple Crown finals

Eleven players have completed a career Triple Crown: Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump. Only Davis, Hendry and Williams have won all three Triple Crown events in the same season. Hendry is the only player to have achieved the feat twice, in the 1989–90 and 1995–96 seasons.

On winning the 1999 Masters, John Higgins held all three Triple Crown titles at the same time but his victories spanned two separate seasons. O'Sullivan came close to holding all three titles at once, making the final of all three events in 2014. He won the Masters and UK titles that year but not the World title, despite being the defending champion for the second successive year. Only O'Sullivan and Hendry have managed to successfully defend all three Triple Crown events. In 2013, Robertson became the first player from outside the United Kingdom to complete the career Triple Crown.

Following his win in the 2018 UK Championship, O'Sullivan surpassed Hendry's previous record of 18 Triple Crown titles, and has now won 23. Trump is the latest player to have achieved a career Triple Crown, winning both the Masters and World Championship in the 2018–19 season after having already won the UK Championship in 2011.

PlayerTotalWSCUKMastersWinning
spanCareer Triple Crown
first achievedSingle season
Triple Crown
Ronnie O'Sullivan237881993–20242001 World Championship
Stephen Hendry187561989–19991990 World Championship2 (1989–90, 1995–96)
Steve Davis156631980–19971982 Masters1 (1987–88)
Mark Selby104332008–20252014 World Championship
John Higgins94321998–20111999 Masters
Mark Williams73221998–20182000 World Championship1 (2002–03)
Neil Robertson61322010–20222013 UK Championship
Alex Higgins52121972–19831983 UK Championship
Judd Trump51222011–20242019 World Championship
Shaun Murphy41122005–20252015 Masters
Terry Griffiths31111979–19821982 UK Championship
Legend

Sources: World Championship; UK Championship; Masters.

One win away from Triple Crown

Of those still active on the main professional tour (), seven players have won two of the three Triple Crown events, leaving them one away from completing a career Triple Crown. Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens, Ding Junhui and Mark Allen have all won the Masters and UK Championship at least once, but all four players need to win the World Championship to complete their Triple Crown. Of these, three have reached the final of the event, those being White (6 times), Stevens (2 times) and Ding (1 time), while Allen has reached the semi-final twice. Stuart Bingham and Kyren Wilson have a World title and a Masters title, but are yet to win the UK Championship for their career Triple Crown. Zhao Xintong has won the World and UK Championships, but has not won the Masters.

Seven former professional players—Peter Ebdon, John Parrott, Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Dennis Taylor, Doug Mountjoy and Cliff Thorburn—won two of the three Triple Crown events before their retirement. Ebdon and Parrott both won UK and World titles, and Parrott reached the final of the Masters on three occasions between 1989 and 1992 but never won the title. Reardon, Spencer, Taylor and Thorburn won the World Championship and Masters tournaments during their careers, but not the UK Championship. Mountjoy came close to winning the World Championship in 1981, only to lose to Steve Davis in the final.

Tournament winners

A list of all winners of the three Triple Crown events is shown below by season:

SeasonUK ChampionshipMastersWorld ChampionshipRef.
1968/69Started in 1977/1978Started in 1974/1975John Spencer (1/4)
1969/70Ray Reardon (1/7)
1970/71John Spencer (2/4)
1971/72Alex Higgins (1/5)
1972/73Ray Reardon (2/7)
1973/74Ray Reardon (3/7)
1974/75John Spencer (3/4)Ray Reardon (4/7)
1975/76Ray Reardon (5/7)Ray Reardon (6/7)
1976/77Doug Mountjoy (1/3)John Spencer (4/4)
1977/78Patsy Fagan (1/1)Alex Higgins (2/5)Ray Reardon (7/7)
1978/79Doug Mountjoy (2/3)Perrie Mans (1/1)Terry Griffiths (1/3)
1979/80John Virgo (1/1)Terry Griffiths (2/3)Cliff Thorburn (1/4)
1980/81Steve Davis (1/15)Alex Higgins (3/5)Steve Davis (2/15)
1981/82Steve Davis (3/15)Steve Davis (4/15)Alex Higgins (4/5)
1982/83Terry Griffiths (3/3)Cliff Thorburn (2/4)Steve Davis (5/15)
1983/84Alex Higgins (5/5)Jimmy White (1/2)Steve Davis (6/15)
1984/85Steve Davis (7/15)Cliff Thorburn (3/4)Dennis Taylor (1/2)
1985/86Steve Davis (8/15)Cliff Thorburn (4/4)Joe Johnson (1/1)
1986/87Steve Davis (9/15)Dennis Taylor (2/2)Steve Davis (10/15)
1987/88Steve Davis (11/15)Steve Davis (12/15)Steve Davis (13/15)
1988/89Doug Mountjoy (3/3)Stephen Hendry (1/18)Steve Davis (14/15)
1989/90Stephen Hendry (2/18)Stephen Hendry (3/18)Stephen Hendry (4/18)
1990/91Stephen Hendry (5/18)Stephen Hendry (6/18)John Parrott (1/2)
1991/92John Parrott (2/2)Stephen Hendry (7/18)Stephen Hendry (8/18)
1992/93Jimmy White (2/2)Stephen Hendry (9/18)Stephen Hendry (10/18)
1993/94Ronnie O'Sullivan (1/23)Alan McManus (1/1)Stephen Hendry (11/18)
1994/95Stephen Hendry (12/18)Ronnie O'Sullivan (2/23)Stephen Hendry (13/18)
1995/96Stephen Hendry (14/18)Stephen Hendry (15/18)Stephen Hendry (16/18)
1996/97Stephen Hendry (17/18)Steve Davis (15/15)Ken Doherty (1/1)
1997/98Ronnie O'Sullivan (3/23)Mark Williams (1/7)John Higgins (1/9)
1998/99John Higgins (2/9)John Higgins (3/9)Stephen Hendry (18/18)
1999/00Mark Williams (2/7)Matthew Stevens (1/2)Mark Williams (3/7)
2000/01John Higgins (4/9)Paul Hunter (1/3)Ronnie O'Sullivan (4/23)
2001/02Ronnie O'Sullivan (5/23)Paul Hunter (2/3)Peter Ebdon (1/2)
2002/03Mark Williams (4/7)Mark Williams (5/7)Mark Williams (6/7)
2003/04Matthew Stevens (2/2)Paul Hunter (3/3)Ronnie O'Sullivan (6/23)
2004/05Stephen Maguire (1/1)Ronnie O'Sullivan (7/23)Shaun Murphy (1/4)
2005/06Ding Junhui (1/4)John Higgins (5/9)Graeme Dott (1/1)
2006/07Peter Ebdon (2/2)Ronnie O'Sullivan (8/23)John Higgins (6/9)
2007/08Ronnie O'Sullivan (9/23)Mark Selby (1/10)Ronnie O'Sullivan (10/23)
2008/09Shaun Murphy (2/4)Ronnie O'Sullivan (11/23)John Higgins (7/9)
2009/10Ding Junhui (2/4)Mark Selby (2/10)Neil Robertson (1/6)
2010/11John Higgins (8/9)Ding Junhui (3/4)John Higgins (9/9)
2011/12Judd Trump (1/5)Neil Robertson (2/6)Ronnie O'Sullivan (12/23)
2012/13Mark Selby (3/10)Mark Selby (4/10)Ronnie O'Sullivan (13/23)
2013/14Neil Robertson (3/6)Ronnie O'Sullivan (14/23)Mark Selby (5/10)
2014/15Ronnie O'Sullivan (15/23)Shaun Murphy (3/4)Stuart Bingham (1/2)
2015/16Neil Robertson (4/6)Ronnie O'Sullivan (16/23)Mark Selby (6/10)
2016/17Mark Selby (7/10)Ronnie O'Sullivan (17/23)Mark Selby (8/10)
2017/18Ronnie O'Sullivan (18/23)Mark Allen (1/2)Mark Williams (7/7)
2018/19Ronnie O'Sullivan (19/23)Judd Trump (2/5)Judd Trump (3/5)
2019/20Ding Junhui (4/4)Stuart Bingham (2/2)Ronnie O'Sullivan (20/23)
2020/21Neil Robertson (5/6)Yan Bingtao (1/1)Mark Selby (9/10)
2021/22Zhao Xintong (1/2)Neil Robertson (6/6)Ronnie O'Sullivan (21/23)
2022/23Mark Allen (2/2)Judd Trump (4/5)Luca Brecel (1/1)
2023/24Ronnie O'Sullivan (22/23)Ronnie O'Sullivan (23/23)Kyren Wilson (1/2)
2024/25Judd Trump (5/5)Shaun Murphy (4/4)Zhao Xintong (2/2)
2025/26Mark Selby (10/10)Kyren Wilson (2/2)
Legend

Sources: UK Championship; Masters; World Championship.

References

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