List of world snooker champions


World Snooker Championship: Past Winners, Stats & History

The World Snooker Championship is the pinnacle of the sport and the one event that all players are desperate to win. By taking the world title you go down as one of the best to have played the sport and with it, immortalise yourself in snooker history.

The tournament is held at the world-famous Crucible Theatre, which is in Sheffield, England. It’s been running since 1927 and is also the oldest tournament on the snooker calendar. As the season finale, it’s the one that the players are all geared up for. Twelve months of preparation is required to even get on the table, let alone win the event, such is the structure of the World Snooker Championship.

World Snooker Championship Recent Winners

YearWinner (Seeding)Runner-Up (Seeding)Score
2025Zhao Xintong (-)Mark Williams (6)18-12
2024Kyren Wilson (12)Jak Jones (-)18-14
2023Luca Brecel (9)Mark Selby (2)18-15
2022Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)Judd Trump (4)18-13
2021Mark Selby (4)Shaun Murphy (7)18-15
2020Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)Kyren Wilson (8)18-8
2019Judd Trump (7)John Higgins (5)18-9
2018Mark Wi

Becoming world snooker champion is the pinnacle of the sport. While other sports might be focused on the Olympics or their own international competitions, the Snooker World Championships at the Crucible are what every young snooker player dreams of winning.

With a rich history and an evolving format, snooker’s premier event has inevitably changed throughout its almost 100-year existence.

World Snooker Championship History

First played in 1927, the World Snooker Championship was a 10-player tournament initially and was played on a challenge basis. Joe Davis was dominant throughout the first decade-plus of the competition, but this was aided by a format which benefited the defending champion considerably.

In the mid-1950s, the World Championship became a matchplay tournament. There was a seven-year gap from 1957 to 1964 without a World Championship, when it again returned as a challenge tournament.

A knockout structure was used from 1969, which is when the “modern era” began. In 1970, there was a group phase introduced, and a few years later, the decision was made to play the tournament over a two-week period.

In 1977, the World Championships finally named a permanen

List of World Snooker Championship winners facts for kids

The World Snooker Championship trophy

The World Snooker Championship is a super exciting yearly snooker tournament! It first started way back in 1927. Since 1977, it has been held at the famous Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

This big event takes place over seventeen days in late April and early May. It's one of the three most important snooker tournaments of the season, known as the Triple Crown events. The championship didn't happen between 1941 and 1945 because of World War II. It also took a break from 1958 to 1963 because not enough players were interested at that time.

Today, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) organizes this amazing tournament. Before 1968, other groups were in charge.

Many great players have won the World Snooker Championship. As of 2024, 28 different players have lifted the trophy! The player with the most wins ever is Joe Davis. He won an incredible fifteen times in a row between 1927 and 1946! In more recent times, since 1969, when the tournament changed its format, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record. They have both won the title se

list of world snooker champions

Crucible champions: Every World Snooker Championship winner profiled including Alex Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry

John Spencer (1977)

Spencer will always occupy a special place in snooker's history. Three times a society champion, Spencer was the first to triumph at the Crucible when the tournament moved there in 1977.

When the Lancastrian first won the title, in 1969, it was a very distinct event, with the final held at London's Victoria Hall - legend has it that Spencer had to ask his bank for a £100 loan to cover the entry fee. Spencer claimed the title again in 1971, although the tournament was actually played between September and November 1970 in Australia. Answers on a postcard please.

By this time, Spencer was becoming improved known to the public, having twice won Pot Black, the special new event shown by the BBC. And snooker was making its first tentative steps into the big time when Spencer, then 41, won at the Crucible. He beat John Pulman 18-16 in a dramatic semi-final, before seeing off Cliff Thorburn 25-21 in the final.

Spencer played on until the nineties, and remained heavily involved with the game. He had a spell as chairman of the World

NB! THIS PAGE IS OUTDATED

See the updated list for the latest finals.

Embassy World Professional Open Championship
2004Ronnie O'SullivanEngland18-8Graeme DottScotland
2003Mark J WilliamsWales18-16Ken DohertyIreland
2002Peter EbdonEngland18-17Stephen HendryScotland
2001Ronnie O'SullivanEngland18-14John HigginsScotland
2000Mark J WilliamsWales18-16Matthew StevensWales
1999Stephen HendryScotland18-11Mark J WilliamsWales
1998John HigginsScotland18-12Ken DohertyIreland
1997Ken DohertyIreland18-12Stephen HendryScotland
1996Stephen HendryScotland18-12Peter EbdonEngland
1995Stephen HendryScotland18-9Nigel BondEngland
1994Stephen HendryScotland18-17Jimmy WhiteEngland
1993Stephen HendryScotland18-5Jimmy WhiteEngland
1992Stephen HendryScotland18-14Jimmy WhiteEngland
1991John ParrottEngland18-11Jimmy WhiteEngland
1990Stephen HendryScotland18-12Jimmy WhiteEngland
1989Steve DavisEngland18-3John ParrottEngland
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