List of world number one snooker players

Hendry held the number one position for the longest time under the annual format, holding it for nine years in total.

An Order of Merit was published in the 1975/76 season to determine the seedings for events, and the first set of official rankings the following year used the same criteria.

The World Snooker Championship originally was the only event to offer ranking points, until the 1982 International Open.

[7] This was altered from the 2014–15 snooker season, where ranking points were based entirely on the prize money won from qualifying events.

[8] Since the introduction of the new system, Higgins, Neil Robertson, Williams, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, and O'Sullivan have all attained the number one rank.