List of world number one 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, Cliff Thorburn, Reardon again for 1982/83, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry. From 1998/99 to 2009/10, the title was shared by Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, 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 and behind Hendry.

List of players

Hendry holds the record for most seasons at number one under the traditional system, with nine seasons. 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.NationalityPlayerFromTo
3 May 197520 April 1981
21 April 198116 May 1982
17 May 19822 May 1983
3 May 198329 April 1990
30 April 19904 May 1998
5 May 19981 May 2000
2 May 20006 May 2002
7 May 20025 May 2003
6 May 20033 May 2004
4 May 20041 May 2006
2 May 20067 May 2007
8 May 20075 May 2008
6 May 20083 May 2010
4 May 201026 September 2010
27 September 201012 December 2010
13 December 20102 May 2011
3 May 201111 September 2011
12 September 20114 November 2012
105 November 20129 December 2012
10 December 201217 February 2013
18 February 201331 March 2013
1 April 20139 June 2013
10 June 20135 May 2014
6 May 20146 July 2014
7 July 201410 August 2014
11 August 20147 December 2014
118 December 201414 December 2014
15 December 201425 January 2015
26 January 20158 February 2015
9 February 201524 March 2019
25 March 201911 August 2019
12 August 201922 August 2021
23 August 202117 October 2021
18 October 20217 November 2021
8 November 20213 April 2022
4 April 20226 May 2024
127 May 202425 August 2024
26 August 2024Present

Total time spent at number one

Rolling format (2010–present)

† as of