Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry

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

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Sun November 16, 2025 · 3w ago

Judd Trump is currently enjoying his fifth tenure as world number one - but who has held this position the most?

You'd be forgiven for thinking Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record due to his 'GOAT' status and his incredible longevity at the top of the sport.

The Rocket has enjoyed five tenures as world number one and his most recent - which began almost 20 years after he first got there in May 2002 - was the longest of his career.

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O'Sullivan, who'd moved above Mark Selby into top spot during the 2022 Tour Championship, was still there heading into the 2024 World Championship, where he was bidding to become just the fourth player in history to complete a clean sweep of Triple Crown titles in a single season.

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

The Northern Irishman's spell only lasted a mere 16 weeks before Judd Trump returned to the summit for the third time in his glittering career at the end of August 2024 and he's been there ever since.

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So who has been world number one 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, his most recent reign of 109 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 389 weeks is second only behind Stephen Hendry (471) and he's now ahead of Steve Davis (365), Ray Reardon (362) and Mark Selby (350).

Just 12 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.