List of world number one snooker players


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.

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, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, interrupted only by the 1981/1982 season when Cliff Thorburn held the position. The following period was shared by Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, while Hendry regained the position for the 2006/2007 season. In the first 34 years of the world rankings, only seven players held the number-one position.
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, Ding Junhui and Ronnie O'Sullivan have all attained the number-one rank. Selby has also finished the season seven times ranked in first place, putting him in joint second place overall with Reardon and Davis and behind Hendry.
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, and similarly, Robertson assumed the number-one spot earlier than would have been possible if John Higgins had not received a six-month ban in 2010. John Higgins would also have finished the 2010/2011 season ranked number 1 if he were not 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, 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.

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. 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 rankings officially began in 1976/77. 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.
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 201424 January 2015
25 January 20158 February 2015
9 February 201524 March 2019
25 March 201911 August 2019
12 August 2019Present

;Key
Rankings updated once a year after the World Championship

Total time spent at number one

Annual format (1975–2010)

Rolling format (2010–present)

† as of

Players ranked number one at the start of the season

The transition from the traditional system whereby the rankings were updated once per year after the world championship to a rolling system in the 2010/2011 season in which the rankings are updated after every tournament makes an "apples for apples" comparison impossible, when comparing the amount of time each player occupied the number one rank. For example, Steve Davis held the number one rank for a greater period of time than Mark Selby, but Davis only had to defend the rank once per season at the world championship, whereas Selby had to defend the rank at every tournament. However, both players have each held the rank on seven occasions after the world championship, meaning that Selby effectively equaled Davis' achievement despite spending less time in total occupying the top spot, so a snapshot of the rankings at the start of each season is provided below to enable an approximate comparison across the two systems.

Per season

Per frequency

Other statistics

;Players who were ranked world number one without having won the World Professional Championship
PlayerDate of first No. 1 positionFirst World Championship finalFirst World Championship title
12 September 20112014 World Snooker Championship
5 November 20122011 World Snooker Championship 2019 World Snooker Championship
8 December 20142016 World Snooker Championship none