This is a list of professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
players ordered by the number of "ranking titles" they have won. A ranking title is a tournament that counts towards the
snooker world rankings
The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The ranking lists are maintained by the sport's governing body, ...
. World rankings were introduced in the
1976–77 season, initially based on the results from the previous three
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. This meant that the
1974 World Championship retrospectively became the first ranking event, won by
Ray Reardon
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gr ...
.
Until 1982, the World Championship was the only ranking event. In the
1982–83 season, two more ranking events were added to the snooker calendar: the
International Open and the
Professional Players Tournament. In 1984, the
UK Championship
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...
, initially a non-ranking tournament, became a ranking event for the first time. More ranking tournaments were established over the years. In the
2018–19 season, there were twenty events worth ranking points.
List of winners
:''Following the
2022 English Open''
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 39. He surpassed
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...
's previous record of 36 by winning the
2020 World Snooker Championship.
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
is third on the list with 31 titles, followed by
Steve Davis
Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...
with 28. Davis won all of his titles between 1981 and 1995, and he held the record until Hendry's 29th ranking tournament win at the
1998 Thailand Masters.
Ranking title winners by country
:''Following the
2022 English Open''
Minor-ranking tournaments
In
1992–93 and from the
2010–11 to the
2015–16 season there were a number of tournaments which contributed to the world rankings but at a lower rate than standard ranking tournaments. Wins in these tournaments are referred to as "minor-ranking titles". There were a total of
69 minor-ranking tournaments; 4 in the 1992–93 season with the remainder played from 2010 to 2016 as part of the
Players Tour Championship
The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification ...
.
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...
had the most wins in minor-rankings events with 7.
Mark Allen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
was second with 5 titles. A number of players won a minor ranking event but have never won a ranking event:
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and directe ...
won two minor-ranking tournaments while
Marcus Campbell
Marcus Campbell (born 22 September 1972) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. He was ranked within the world's top 64 for 15 consecutive seasons.
Career
Campbell is most famous for whitewashing Stephen Hendry 9–0 in the 1998 ...
,
Tony Drago
Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player.
Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...
,
Andrew Higginson
Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977) is an English former professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open.
Career
Early years
After some success in amateur tourn ...
,
Ju Reti
Ju Reti ( zh, t=居熱提; ug, بارى مەمتىلى, lat=Jür'et Abdurëhim; born 19 September 1983) is a former Chinese professional snooker player.
Career
Amateur
2012/2013
Ju, a farmer, from the Xinjiang region China of the Uyghur eth ...
,
Rod Lawler
Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod".
After turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament fin ...
,
Rory McLeod,
Barry Pinches
Barry Pinches (born 13 July 1970 in Catton, Norwich) is an English professional snooker player, recognisable for his bright and flamboyant waistcoats, which usually feature the yellow and green colours of Norwich City F.C. He is a former top 3 ...
,
Troy Shaw
Troy Shaw (born 6 October 1969) is an English former professional snooker player.
Career
Competing on the main tour from 1991, Shaw won the second leg of minor ranking tournament the Strachan Challenge in 1993, beating Nigel Bond in the fi ...
,
Joe Swail
Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Cha ...
and
Ben Woollaston
Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at the ...
each won once.
References
Sources
*
{{Snooker tournaments
Ranking titles
*