List of world number-one snooker players

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File:Mark Selby at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2013-01-30 15.jpg
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, ensuring that the four men held the position between them for a twenty-year span (1990–2010). 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. Robertson, Trump and Ding assumed and lost the position mid-season, so neither would have been officially ranked number one under the previous system.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

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,[15][16] 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.[17] 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,[18] 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.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21][22] 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]

No. Nationality Player From To Duration
1  Wales Ray Reardon 3 May 1975[23] 20 April 1981 6 seasons
2  Canada Cliff Thorburn 21 April 1981 16 May 1982 1 season
 Wales Ray Reardon (2) 17 May 1982 2 May 1983 1 season
3  England Steve Davis 3 May 1983 29 April 1990 7 seasons
4  Scotland Stephen Hendry 30 April 1990 4 May 1998 8 seasons
5  Scotland John Higgins 5 May 1998 1 May 2000 2 seasons
6  Wales Mark Williams 2 May 2000 6 May 2002 2 seasons
7  England Ronnie O'Sullivan 7 May 2002 5 May 2003 1 season
 Wales Mark Williams (2) 6 May 2003 3 May 2004 1 season
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 4 May 2004 1 May 2006 2 seasons
 Scotland Stephen Hendry (2) 2 May 2006 7 May 2007 1 season
 Scotland John Higgins (2) 8 May 2007 5 May 2008 1 season
 England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) 6 May 2008 3 May 2010 2 seasons
 Scotland John Higgins (3) 4 May 2010 26 September 2010[24] 146 days
8  Australia Neil Robertson[3] 27 September 2010 12 December 2010[25] 77 days
 Scotland John Higgins[4] (4) 13 December 2010 2 May 2011[26] 141 days
 Wales Mark Williams[27] (3) 3 May 2011 11 September 2011[28] 132 days
9  England Mark Selby[29] 12 September 2011 4 November 2012[30] 420 days
10  England Judd Trump[5] 5 November 2012 9 December 2012[31] 35 days
 England Mark Selby[6] (2) 10 December 2012 17 February 2013[32] 70 days
 England Judd Trump[7] (2) 18 February 2013 31 March 2013[33] 42 days
 England Mark Selby[8] (3) 1 April 2013 9 June 2013[34] 70 days
 Australia Neil Robertson[9] (2) 10 June 2013 5 May 2014[35] 330 days
 England Mark Selby[36] (4) 6 May 2014 6 July 2014[37] 62 days
 Australia Neil Robertson[10] (3) 7 July 2014 10 August 2014[38] 35 days
 England Mark Selby[11] (5) 11 August 2014 7 December 2014[39] 119 days
11  China Ding Junhui[12] 8 December 2014 14 December 2014[40] 7 days
 Australia Neil Robertson[13] (4) 15 December 2014 24 January 2015[41] 41 days
 China Ding Junhui[14] (2) 25 January 2015 8 February 2015[42] 15 days
 England Mark Selby[43] (6) 9 February 2015 Present 3,366 days
Key
Current number-one player
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
Player Date of first No. 1 position First World Championship final[44] First World Championship title
Mark Selby 12 September 2011 2007 World Snooker Championship (6–7 May 2007) 2014 World Snooker Championship (4–5 May 2014)
Judd Trump 5 November 2012 2011 World Snooker Championship (1–2 May 2011) none
Ding Junhui 8 December 2014 none none

References

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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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