Ranking Records
World Number Ones
Snooker’s professional world ranking list has operated since 1976 and below we track which players have reached its summit to date and exactly how long they have been able to stay there.
Note that when a player has been ranked at number one for more or less than an exact week, we have rounded up their total.
Number One Players (updated 03/06/2024):
| Name | From | To | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Reardon | 3 May 1975 | 20 April 1981 | 312 |
| Cliff Thorburn | 21 April 1981 | 16 May 1982 | 56 |
| Ray Reardon | 17 May 1982 | 2 May 1983 | 50 |
| Steve Davis | 3 May 1983 | 29 April 1990 | 365 |
| Stephen Hendry | 30 April 1990 | 4 May 1998 | 418 |
| John Higgins | 5 May 1998 | 1 May 2000 | 104 |
| Mark Williams | 2 May 2000 | 6 May 2002 | 105 |
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 7 May 2002 | 5 May 2003 | 52 |
| Mark Williams | 6 May 2003 | 3 May 2004 | 52 |
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 4 May 2004 | 1 May 2006 | 104 |
| Stephen Hendry | 2 May 2006 | 7 May 2007 | 53 |
| John Higgins | 8 May 2007 | 5 May 2008 | 52 |
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 6 May 2008 | 3 May 2010 | 104 |
| John Higgins | 4 May 2010 | 26 September 2010 | 21 |
| Neil Robertson | 27 September 2010 | 12 December 2010 | 11 |
| John Higgins | 13 December 2010 | 2 May 2011 | 20 |
| Mark Williams | 3 May 2011 | 11 September 2011 | 19 |
| Mark Selby | 12 September 2011 | 4 November 2012 | 60 |
| Judd Trump | 5 November 2012 | 9 December 2012 | 5 |
| Mark Selby | 10 December 2012 | 17 February 2013 | 10 |
| Judd Trump | 18 February 2013 | 31 March 2013 | 6 |
| Mark Selby | 1 April 2013 | 9 June 2013 | 10 |
| Neil Robertson | 10 June 2013 | 5 May 2014 | 47 |
| Mark Selby | 6 May 2014 | 6 July 2014 | 9 |
| Neil Robertson | 7 July 2014 | 10 August 2014 | 5 |
| Mark Selby | 11 August 2014 | 7 December 2014 | 17 |
| Ding Junhui | 8 December 2014 | 14 December 2014 | 1 |
| Neil Robertson | 15 December 2014 | 25 January 2015 | 6 |
| Ding Junhui | 26 January 2015 | 8 February 2015 | 2 |
| Mark Selby | 9 February 2015 | 24 March 2019 | 215 |
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 25 March 2019 | 11 August 2019 | 20 |
| Judd Trump | 12 August 2019 | 22 August 2021 | 106 |
| Mark Selby | 23 August 2021 | 17 October 2021 | 8 |
| Judd Trump | 18 October 2021 | 7 November 2021 | 3 |
| Mark Selby | 8 November 2021 | 3 April 2022 | 21 |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | 4 April 2022 | 1 April 2024 | 109 |
| Mark Allen | 6 May 2024 | 3 June 2024 | 4* |
Total Weeks Spent As World Number One (updated 03/06/2024):
| Name | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Stephen Hendry | 471 |
| Ronnie O’Sullivan | 389 |
| Steve Davis | 365 |
| Ray Reardon | 362 |
| Mark Selby | 350 |
| John Higgins | 197 |
| Mark Williams | 176 |
| Judd Trump | 120 |
| Neil Robertson | 69 |
| Cliff Thorburn | 56 |
| Mark Allen | 4* |
| Ding Junhui | 3 |
Season-End Number One Ranked Players (updated 03/06/2024):
| Season | Player |
|---|---|
| 1976/77 | Ray Reardon |
| 1977/78 | Ray Reardon |
| 1978/79 | Ray Reardon |
| 1979/80 | Ray Reardon |
| 1980/81 | Cliff Thorburn |
| 1981/82 | Ray Reardon |
| 1982/83 | Steve Davis |
| 1983/84 | Steve Davis |
| 1984/85 | Steve Davis |
| 1985/86 | Steve Davis |
| 1986/87 | Steve Davis |
| 1987/88 | Steve Davis |
| 1988/89 | Steve Davis |
| 1989/90 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1990/91 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1991/92 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1992/93 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1993/94 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1994/95 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1995/96 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1996/97 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1997/98 | John Higgins |
| 1998/99 | John Higgins |
| 1999/00 | Mark Williams |
| 2000/01 | Mark Williams |
| 2001/02 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2002/03 | Mark Williams |
| 2003/04 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2004/05 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2005/06 | Stephen Hendry |
| 2006/07 | John Higgins |
| 2007/08 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2008/09 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2009/10 | John Higgins |
| 2010/11 | Mark Williams |
| 2011/12 | Mark Selby |
| 2012/13 | Mark Selby |
| 2013/14 | Mark Selby |
| 2014/15 | Mark Selby |
| 2015/16 | Mark Selby |
| 2016/17 | Mark Selby |
| 2017/18 | Mark Selby |
| 2018/19 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2019/20 | Judd Trump |
| 2020/21 | Judd Trump |
| 2021/22 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 2022/23 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 2023/24 | Mark Allen |