List of world number one snooker players

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]

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	Present	[49]

Total time spent at number one

Rolling format (2010–present)

Rolling format^[3]

Days	Longest consecutive period	Nationality	Player
2449	1505	England	Mark Selby
896 †	756 †	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

† as of 28 April 2024

Players ranked number one at the start of the season

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

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