A ranking of the top 10 players in any sport is sure to enrage any sports fan, and snooker is no exception.
Individuals will always have personal preferences over which people and in what order to include, regardless of how good the criteria are.
In snooker, the number of World Championship victories is typically a useful benchmark, although it’s by no means the only one.
In the years following World War II, Joe Davis won the first fifteen World Championships, making him a game innovator. In the 1970s, Ray Reardon won the title six times.
Then, with a daring style, Alex Higgins brought snooker into the modern era, and his influence on the game is undeniable.
However, the peaks of their individual achievements came from very different times when there was less competitive rivalry.
It is arguable whether they could compete with the current generation of snooker professionals, who are thought to be the hardest in terms of their total skill level.
Other significant factors include the quantity of professional titles obtained, the greatest ranking positions, and overall duration at the pinnacle of the sport.
Rankings of the top 10 snooker players ever are available on RadioTimes.com.
The top 10 snooker players of all time. Jimmy White
In a picture finish, Jimmy White defeats Ding Junhui, a legend in China. White, a six-time World Championship runner-up, would likely be higher on this list if he had won one or both of the Sheffield finals. The former world no. 2 won ten ranking titles and numerous more invitationals during a wild career that saw him emerge as possibly the most popular player of them all, including the Masters in 1984 and the World Matchplay twice.
Shaun Murphy is different from Jimmy White and Ding Junhui because of his 2005 World Championship victory. Putting that aside, though, the Magician has also been able to sign his name to almost every major award in the sport. He’s had success in the Champion of Champions, the Masters, the UK Championship, and, most recently, the 2023 Tour Championship, where he may have hit his greatest snooker ever.
Neil Robertson has been one of the major tour’s most reliable and prolific wins for nearly 20 years. Many people find it puzzling that he has only ever held the World Championship trophy once. Nonetheless, the Australian has taken home three titles from the UK Championship, two from the Masters and the Champion of Champions, and more than twenty ranking trophies overall from his tenure as the former world number one.
Judd Trump made snooker history in 2023 when he became just the fifth player to win three consecutive ranking titles. He will probably threaten the all-time record for lifetime ranking victories by the end of his career. Trump has had incredible highs since he was a small child, and from 2019 to 2021, he dominated the sport as its global number one. However, the Bristol potter will need to add to his World Championship total—which, like Murphy and Robertson, currently stands at only one—in order to climb this list.
No one can doubt the Welshman’s accomplishments in the game, even though Mark Williams will have you thinking differently. Williams, a three-time world champion, has won seven Triple Crown championships, which are majors that include the World and UK Championships in addition to the esteemed Masters. In fact, Williams was untouchable at times throughout the early 2000s in the biggest competitions. At 48 years old, he is still going strong, having won the British Open in 2023.
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