What is the Players Series in Snooker?

The Players Series – which has featured every season on the professional snooker circuit since 2018/19 - consists of three big ranking events: the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and the Tour Championship. 

Due to title sponsorship, the Players Series has previously been known as the Coral Series, Cazoo Series and Duelbits Series.

All professional tour card holders have the opportunity to play in Players Series events, although qualification is from the one-year ranking list only. The overall world rankings do not come into play, and several event champions have not been high enough on the one-year list to come back the following year and defend their title. 

The top 32 players from the one-year list qualify for the World Grand Prix. The top 16 qualify for the Players Championship, and the top 12 for the Tour Championship (the Tour Championship field was expanded from 8 to 12 in 2024). There are generally a few weeks in between each event.

The World Grand Prix and Players Championship already existed on the professional circuit, but the Tour Championship was a new event when it was introduced in 2019. 

Players Series events continue to be covered extensively by host television broadcaster ITV in the United Kingdom.

Who has won the most Players Series events in Snooker? 

From the 18 Players Series events played to date, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan have claimed the most event wins with four titles each. 

Both O'Sullivan and Robertson have completed the Players Series set (won all three events throughout their career), although no player has yet to win all three Players Series events within the same season. 

O’Sullivan (2018/19), Robertson (2021/22) and Shaun Murphy (2022/23) won multiple Players Series events within the same season, each claiming the Players Championship and Tour Championship titles in those respective campaigns.

Players Series event winners and number of titles:

Neil Robertson: 4 (1-1-2) 

Ronnie O'Sullivan: 4 (2-1-1)

Judd Trump: 3 (2-1-0) 

Shaun Murphy: 2 (0-1-1) 

Mark Allen: 2 (1-1-0) 

Stephen Maguire: 1 (0-0-1) 

John Higgins: 1 (0-1-0) 

Mark Williams: 1 (0-0-1)

 (World Grand Prix - Players Championship - Tour Championship) 

The above list does not include title victories when the World Grand Prix and Players Championship were standalone events and not part of the Players Series prior to the 2018/19 season)

Players Series Maximum 147 Breaks 

Despite the high standard on show at Players Series events – and many century breaks – only one maximum 147 break has been made in it. 

This was compiled by Ryan Day during the opening round of the 2023 Tour Championship.