List of World Snooker Championship winners

The World Snooker Championship is an annual ranking snooker tournament founded in 1927 and since 1977 played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament is played over seventeen days in late April and early May, and is chronologically the third of the three Triple Crown events of the season since 1977–78, when the UK Championship was first held. The event was not held from 1941 to 1945 because of World War II or between 1958 and 1963 due to declining interest.

The World Snooker Championship Trophy

The governing body that currently organises this event is the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). Prior to the WPBSA assuming control of the professional game in 1968, the world championship was organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), except for a few years when the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) staged their own event, the World Professional Match-play Championship, following a dispute with the BACC.[1]

The most successful player at the World Snooker Championship was Joe Davis, who won fifteen consecutive titles between 1927 and 1946. The record in the modern era, usually dated from the reintroduction in 1969 of a knock-out tournament format, rather than a challenge format, is held by Stephen Hendry, who won the title seven times between 1990 and 1999.

Champions
Main articles: World Snooker Championship and World Professional Match-play Championship
Format Organiser
Knockout tournamentBACC
Challenge event with defending champion receiving a bye to the final †BACC
World Professional Match-play Championship ◊PBPA
Challenge matches ‡BACC
Knockout tournamentWPBSA

Statistics

Multiple champions
Snooker World Champions multiple times
Player Total Years Status Ref.
Joe Davis 15 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946 † 10/7/1978 [10][11]
Fred Davis 8 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952*, 1953*, 1954*, 1955*, 1956* † 16/4/1998 [12]
John Pulman 8 1957*, 1964, 1964, 1965, 1965, 1965, 1966, 1968 † 25/12/1998 [12]
Stephen Hendry 7 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999 active [13]
Steve Davis 6 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989 retired [14]
Ray Reardon 6 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978 retired [15]
Ronnie O'Sullivan ¤ 6 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 active [16]
John Higgins ¤ 4 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011 active [17]
Mark Williams ¤ 3 2000, 2003, 2018 active [18]
Mark Selby ¤ 3 2014, 2016, 2017 active [19]
John Spencer 3 1969, 1971, 1977 † 11/7/2006 [20]
Walter Donaldson 2 1947, 1950 † 24/5/1973 [12]
Alex Higgins 2 1972, 1982 † 24/7/2010 [21]
Key
Challenge match
*World Professional Match-play Championship
¤Player competed in 2020
Date of death

Notes
  1. Due to World War II[6]
  2. Due to a disagreement with the Billiards Association and Control Club and the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA), Lindrum and McConachy were the only players to compete, with most professional players playing in the World Professional Match-play Championship instead. As a result, Lindrum's title win is sometimes ignored, with Cliff Thorburn (CAN), Ken Doherty (Republic of IRE) and Neil Robertson (AUS) usually regarded as the only non-United Kingdom winners.[5]
  3. Due to lack of interest there was no championship organised between 1957 and 1964. It was agreed between the Professional Billiard Players Association and the BACC that the championship would be contested by having the reigning champion play in challenge matches. This was the case until the 1969 Championship.[7] The agreement in 1964 was that there should be a minimum sidestake of £50 involved, that matches could be of any duration agreed by both participants, and that the challenger would be responsible for finding a suitable venue.[8]
  4. The title was decided over a series of matches rather than frames.[9]
  5. The title was decided over a series of matches rather than frames.[9]

References
  1. "World Snooker Title". The Glasgow Herald. 19 February 1952. p. 2. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  2. Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. "World Championship – Roll of Honour". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  4. "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  5. "History of the World Snooker Championship". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  6. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0851124488.
  8. "Professional Snooker". Billiards and Snooker. No. January 1964. the Billiards Association and Control Council. p. 13.)
  9. Everton, Clive (1981). Guinness Book of Snooker. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. p. 65. ISBN 0-85112-230-2.
  10. Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. pp. 246–249. ISBN 0356146901.
  11. Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 27–30. ISBN 978-0-60055604-6.
  12. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 144. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
  13. "Seventh title for Hendry". news.bbc.co.uk. 4 May 1999. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  14. "1989: Davis makes it six". news.bbc.co.uk. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  15. "Ray Reardon". World Snooker. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  16. "Ronnie O'Sullivan wins sixth World Snooker Championship at Crucible". Sky Sports. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  17. Ashenden, By Mark. "Higgins beats Trump to win title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2020. 2 May 2011
  18. Hafez, By Shamoon. "Williams wins world title for third time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  19. Hafez, Shamoon. "Brilliant Selby retains world title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  20. "Then and Now: John Spencer". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  21. Everton, Clive (17 May 1982). "Higgins rides a wind of triumph". The Guardian. London. p. 21.
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