Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry

Snooker world number ones in history including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Selby and Ray Reardon

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Mon May 06, 2024 · 7M ago

Ronnie O'Sullivan's fifth tenure as world number one was the longest of his career - but who has held this position the most?

The Rocket moved above Mark Selby during the 2022 Tour Championship, almost 20 years after he first got there in May 2002, and was still there heading into the 2024 World Championship, where he was bidding to win a record-breaking eighth Crucible crown and a 24th Triple Crown.

Having also picked up his eighth UK Championship and eighth Masters in the last six months - as well as the ranked World Grand Prix - he was also aiming to become just the fourth player in history to complete a clean sweep of Triple Crowns in a single season, following in the footsteps of Steve Davis (1987/88), Stephen Hendry (1989/90, 1995/96) and Mark Williams (2002/03).

However, when O'Sullivan's campaign ended prematurely in the quarter-finals, he was leapfrogged by Mark Allen, who begins his first tenure at the top of the rankings.

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Who has been world number one the longest?

Despite 34 of O'Sullivan's record 41 ranking titles coming since the turn of the century, which includes all seven of his World Championship crowns and six of his eight UK Championships, O'Sullivan hasn't spent the most weeks at snooker's summit.

However, this latest reign of 106 weeks - which is his personal best run having twice managed tenures of 104 weeks (2004-06, 2008-10) as well as shorter stints of 52 weeks (2002/2003) and 20 weeks (2019) - has seem him rise up from fifth to second on the list of longest cumulative spells as world number one.

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His total of 386 weeks (as of April 15, 2024) is second only behind Stephen Hendry (471) and he's now ahead of Steve Davis (365), Ray Reardon (362) and Mark Selby (350).

Just 11 different players have ever managed to become world number one since the ranking system began way back in May 1975, when Reardon took sole charge until April 1981.

That mammoth 312-week spell was surpassed by Steve Davis holding it for 365 between 1983 and 1990 but the next player to reach the top - Stephen Hendry - 'swiftly' broke that record at his first attempt when staying there for 418 consecutive weeks.

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No player has got remotely close to matching such a duration, with Mark Selby's 215-week run from February 2015 to March 2019 falling 'just' 203 weeks short!

The other greats to earn world number one status are John Higgins, Mark Williams, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Cliff Thorburn and Ding Junhui but it's hard to see anyone reaching Hendry's records for many years to come.

Here below are stats on the players who have been number one the longest together with a timeline of how top spot has changed hands down the years.