The Triple Crown refers to winning the three most prestigious and historic tournaments in 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 ...

: the

World Championship 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, ...

, 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 ...

and the invitational Masters. Players who win all three tournaments over the course of their career are said to have won the Triple Crown. In January 2020, these tournaments were formally named the Triple Crown Series, with any player who has won all three gaining the right to wear an embroidered crown on their waistcoat reflecting their achievement. As of 2022, eleven professional players in snooker's modern era have won a career Triple Crown:

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 ...

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Worl ...

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 ...

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 ( ...

, Mark Williams,

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, ...

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

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 ...

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight Cue stick, cue action and his lo ...

and

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

. O'Sullivan has won the most Triple Crown titles, with 21, while Hendry has won 18 and Davis 15. Only Davis, Hendry and Williams have won all three Triple Crown events in a single season, with Hendry the only player to accomplish this feat twice.

History

In 1969, the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...

became a

single elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

tournament, replacing the previous challenge format; this marks the start of the professional game's "modern era". Six years later, a non-ranking invitational event, the Masters, was introduced; there were 10 competitors in the inaugural Masters in 1975, which later increased to 16 players. John Spencer won the 1975 Masters tournament, becoming the first person to win two Triple Crown events, having won the world championships in 1969 and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. The following year,

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 (gra ...

won both the Masters and

in the same season. In 1977, the

was created. Originally restricted to British residents and passport holders, the tournament was opened to all professionals in 1984 and also became a ranking event.

Patsy Fagan Patsy Fagan (born 15 January 1951) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 ...

won the 1977 UK Championship, in his only Triple Crown final. In the 1980–81 season,

won both the 1980 UK Championship and the 1981 World Snooker Championship, and was the first player to complete the career Triple Crown when he won the 1982 Masters the following season. Davis was also the first player to complete the season Triple Crown, winning all three events in the 1987–88 season. The Triple Crown events are sometimes referred to as the "big three BBC events", due to them having been broadcast by the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

since inception. They are also sometimes called "snooker's majors", or the "big three" events. However, some have questioned the status of the Triple Crown events, arguing the World Championship is snooker's only major tournament, with

describing the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

, first held in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, as "far bigger than the UK hampionship. Triple Crown events are considered the most prestigious snooker titles, and have historically offered the most prize money. However, in recent years, prize money for other events, such as the China Open has exceeded that of these events. From the 2020 Masters onward, players who have completed the Triple Crown have a gold crown embroidered on their playing waistcoats in recognition of their achievement.

Career Triple Crown winners

Eleven players have completed a career Triple Crown:

, Mark Williams,

, and

. Only Davis, Hendry and Williams have won all three Triple Crown events in the same season. Hendry is the only player to achieve the feat twice, in the 1989–90 and 1995–96 seasons. After winning the 1999 Masters, John Higgins held all three Triple Crown titles at the same time but his victories spanned two seasons. Only O'Sullivan and Hendry have managed to successfully defend all three Triple Crown events. In 2013, Robertson became the first player from outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to complete the career Triple Crown. Following his win in the 2018 UK Championship, O'Sullivan surpassed Hendry's previous record of 18 and now has won 21 Triple Crown titles. Trump is the most recent player to have achieved a career Triple Crown, winning the Masters and World Championship in the 2018–19 snooker season.

One win away from Triple Crown

Of those still active on the tour as of the 2022–23 season, five players have won two of the three events, leaving them one away from completing the career Triple Crown.

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple ...

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...

and Mark Allen all of whom have won the Masters and UK Championship at least once, need to win the World Championship to complete their Triple Crown.

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...

is yet to win the UK Championship, but does have a World Championship title and a Masters title to his name. Former professional players

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...

, John Spencer,

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...

Doug Mountjoy Doug Mountjoy (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the ...

and

Cliff Thorburn Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...

won two of the three events before retiring. Ebdon and Parrott won both the UK and World championships, with Parrott reaching the final of the Masters on three occasions between 1989 and 1992. Reardon, Spencer, Thorburn and Taylor won the World Championship and Masters titles during their careers, but not the UK Championship. Mountjoy was close to winning the World Championship in

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, only to lose to

in the final.

Tournament winners

A list of all winners of the three Triple Crown events is shown below by season:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple Crown Snooker tours and series Snooker terminology Lists of snooker players Snooker professional competitions World Snooker Championships UK Championship (snooker) Masters (snooker)

History

Career Triple Crown winners

One win away from Triple Crown

Tournament winners

See also

References