The snooker career of Ronnie O'Sullivan: Summary, title wins, achievements, highlights, records

O’Sullivan has won a record 41 world ranking event titles; his first came in historic fashion at the 1993 UK Championship when as a 17-year-old he defeated world number one Stephen Hendry in the final at the Guild Hall in Preston. To this day, O’Sullivan remains as the youngest winner of a ranking event crown.

In the sport’s biggest event, O’Sullivan has won the World Snooker Championship on seven occasions, a modern-era record that he shares with Hendry.

Alongside those seven Crucible accolades, O’Sullivan has also claimed eight UK Championships and eight Masters, meaning he has accumulated 23 Triple Crown titles in total across his illustrious career - more than anyone else in snooker history.

The Englishman has been the world number one on five separate occasions, and in total has spent 389 weeks on top of snooker’s global standings, second only to Hendry (471 weeks).

As well as the most decorated of all-time, O’Sullivan is arguably the most entertaining and naturally gifted cueist that snooker has ever seen, and is synonymous with his nickname ‘The Rocket’ due to his rapid pace amongst the balls.

Perhaps the best exhibition of this came in the 1997 World Championship at the Crucible Theatre when O’Sullivan completed a sensational, record-breaking 147 in just five minutes and eight seconds - the quickest maximum break in pro snooker history.

Despite his success, though, O’Sullivan has been somewhat of a tortured genius at times throughout his illustrious career, as he battles to achieve the perfection he so often demands from himself. Many occasions in the past O’Sullivan - particularly during his fledgling years on the professional circuit - has expressed his displeasure with the sport and desire to retire from it.

Especially during those early parts of his career, O’Sullivan had to deal with multiple personal issues, including the imprisonment of his father due to murder, mental health illness, and substance abuse. Several times he has been in hot water with the authorities and faced disciplinary action due to his actions.

Whilst the sport does not rely on just one person, snooker is much stronger with Ronnie O’Sullivan in it. He is still snooker’s chief flagbearer and a true sporting superstar both on and off the baize.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's junior, amateur and early professional snooker career

It was apparent from an early age that O'Sullivan was a very special snooker player. He began playing the sport aged 7, and by 10 he had made his first century break.

In 1989, O'Sullivan defeated Andy Hicks in the final to win the 1989 British Under-16 Snooker Championship; he was 13 at the time.

The following year, as a 14-year-old, O'Sullivan made his television debut when he competed at the Thames Snooker Classic. In a one-frame match, he compiled a run of 75 as he eliminated opponent Steve Ventham from the competition by 113 points to nil.

O'Sullivan recorded several big achievements during 1991. He reached the final of the prestigious English Amateur Snooker Championship having won the southern area title. In his regional quarter-final against Jamie Woodman, O'Sullivan constructed an historic maximum 147 break; at the time becoming the youngest player ever to complete snooker perfection in an officially recognised tournament.

In the same year, O'Sullivan claimed the World Under-21 Snooker Championship title in Bangalore, India - denying Belgium's Patrick Delsemme 11-4 in the final - and he also won the televised Junior Pot Black event.

Already with a sizeable reputation, 16-year-old O'Sullivan turned professional for the 1992/93 season. At a time when the sport's top tier was open to allcomers - hopefuls could simply pay their registration and entry fees - O'Sullivan initially played alongside hundreds of other cueists at the summer qualifying school in Blackpool. Despite his illustrious junior and amateur career, O'Sullivan received no fast-tracking and had to start at the bottom rung of the ladder.

However, this was not an issue for O'Sullivan; he won all of his first 38 matches as a professional, and went on to incredibly win 74 of his opening 76 matches on the sport’s top tier. During his rookie season, O'Sullivan made the quarter-finals of the 1993 European Open ranking event (having won 11 matches to get there), and won 10 qualifying matches to reach the final rounds of the 1993 World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.

O'Sullivan's first professional title came in his first season, when he won the four-player 1993 Nescafé Extra Challenge invitational in Bangkok, Thailand. Played in a round robin format, he finished above James Wattana, John Parrott and Alan McManus in the table. Later in 1993, O'Sullivan was named the WPBSA Young Player of the Year.

The big professional career breakthrough came in his second season on the tour when he won his first two ranking event titles - the 1993 UK Championship and the 1994 British Open.

How many World Snooker Championships has Ronnie O’Sullivan won? O’Sullivan’s Crucible Theatre and World Championship title record

Ronnie O’Sullivan currently has seven World Snooker Championship title wins to his name, and shares the modern-day, Crucible-era record with Stephen Hendry, who claimed all seven of his during the 1990s.

Every season of O’Sullivan’s professional career he has managed to reach the Crucible Theatre for the final rounds and main televised stages of snooker’s blue riband tournament.

Even during his rookie campaign on the professional tour in 1992/93, O’Sullivan won 10 matches to qualify for Sheffield. Aged just 16-years-old at the time, he became - and still is - the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Snooker Championship main event. He is not quite the youngest competitor to have played at the Crucible, though, with qualification for the 1993 event having been held several months prior.

O’Sullivan holds the record for the most number of Crucible Theatre campaigns with 32, and all of those are consecutive appearances. Featuring at the 2023 staging meant he overtook Steve Davis who previously set the benchmark by himself with 30. From his 32 first round matches in Sheffield, O’Sullivan has lost only four.

Whilst O’Sullivan’s major breakthrough on the pro tour came in 1993, his first World Snooker Championship final didn’t arrive until 2001 when he defeated career contemporary and fellow Class of 92 member John Higgins in the title match to achieve his dream.

Further world title triumphs were secured later in the decade in 2004 and 2008, when he defeated Graeme Dott and Ali Carter in those respective finals.

Following a slump of results in ranking events and slippage down the world rankings earlier in the same term, O’Sullivan deposited world title number four in 2012, once again denying Carter in the showpiece match - the only player he has faced twice in a world final.

The next year, O’Sullivan joined a very elite club by successfully defending his world crown, despite having played just one professional match earlier that season before his re-emergence at the Crucible. This feat is acknowledged as one of his most remarkable.

A hat-trick of successive World Championship wins was on the cards in 2014 as he reached the sport’s biggest fixture once again, but on this occasion he was stopped by Mark Selby who ended O’Sullivan’s 14-match winning streak at the venue after coming back from 10-5 down. This remains as O’Sullivan’s only defeat in a world final.

It wasn’t until over six years later that O’Sullivan appeared in another world final, this time during the Covid-19 rescheduled edition in the summer of 2020. After coming back to oust Mark Selby in an epic semi-final clash behind-closed-doors, O’Sullivan got the better of first-time Crucible finalist Kyren Wilson to join heroes Ray Reardon and Steve Davis on six world titles.

In 2022, O’Sullivan was in seventh heaven after he defeated Judd Trump in the final to join Hendry on seven Crucible coronations. Aged 46 years and 148 days, O’Sullivan was, and is still, the oldest-ever winner of the World Snooker Championship. He now aims to break the record outright with an unprecedented eighth in modern times.

On top of his eight world final appearances, O’Sullivan has made it to the one-table set-up (semi-finals) at the Crucible a further five times.

World Championship titles have arrived in three different decades for O’Sullivan, and the span of 21 years between his first and latest glories is the widest in the tournament’s overall history.

Following the 2024 edition, O’Sullivan has now made 207 century breaks at the venue - no other player has broken the 200 mark there.

Three of those contributions were maximum 147 breaks which he constructed in 1997, 2003 and 2008 (more on these below in the centuries/147 section). He shares this particular Crucible record with Hendry who also has three, although O’Sullivan - unlike Hendry - has yet to make one within the one-table set-up.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's Triple Crown Record. How many major snooker tournaments has Ronnie O'Sullivan won?

The collective term ‘Triple Crown’ in professional snooker consists of the sport’s three most prestigious and historic tournaments - the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship. More about snooker’s Triple Crown can be learned here.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has won a record 23 Triple Crown titles, made up of seven World Championships, eight UK Championships and eight Masters victories. This is five more than second-placed Stephen Hendry on the all-time list of players with the most Triple Crown event wins.

O’Sullivan outright broke Hendry’s benchmark when he won the 2018 UK Championship; his 19th Triple Crown event triumph.

In total, O’Sullivan has reached 31 Triple Crown event finals and lost only eight of them. This record is made up of: World Championship (8 finals - won 7, lost 1), UK Championship (9 finals - won 8, lost 1), Masters (14 finals - won 8, lost 6).

Before O’Sullivan did, nobody had won either the UK Championship (Steve Davis - 6 titles) or Masters (Stephen Hendry - 6 times) more than six times.

UK Championship and Masters trophies have been won by O’Sullivan in four different decades - 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s.

O’Sullivan has successfully defended all three Triple Crown titles throughout his career: World Championship (2012 & 2013), UK Championship (2017 & 2018), Masters (2016 & 2017).

The best example of his longevity at the top of the sport, O’Sullivan is the youngest and oldest winner of both the UK Championship and Masters crowns. He also holds the record as the oldest World Champion.

How many world ranking event and big invitational titles has Ronnie O’Sullivan won in his professional snooker career?

Ronnie O’Sullivan holds snooker’s all-time record for the most world ranking event title wins with 41, five clear of Stephen Hendry who is second on the list with 36.

His maiden ranking triumph came at the 1993 UK Championship and his latest was at the 2024 World Grand Prix.

O’Sullivan became the most decorated player in ranking event history when he defeated Kyren Wilson in the final to win the 2020 World Championship. His sixth world title, the accolade was also his 37th ranking crown, meaning he outright overtook Hendry for the top spot.

In total, O’Sullivan has reached 64 world ranking event finals (won 41, lost 23).

In the 2017/18 season, ‘The Rocket’ collected five ranking titles during the campaign, which at the time was a joint-record haul for a single term.

O’Sullivan also has a seriously impressive - perhaps even better - record in non-ranked/invitational competitions.

His first professional title came at the 1993 Nescafé Extra Challenge invitational in Thailand. This was the first of ten nations, so far, that O’Sullivan has won a professional trophy in.

A virtuoso who thrives in a one-table set-up with an elite playing field and for big prize money, O’Sullivan has claimed the Masters - professional snooker’s most important invitational event - eight times, and reached a further six finals.

He won 10 Premier League titles (the first of those was known as the European League), four Champion of Champions crowns, and three Shanghai Masters glories (since that tournament changed to invitational status).

Across all categories, O’Sullivan has won a total of 80 professional titles.

How many century breaks and 147 breaks has Ronnie O’Sullivan made in professional snooker competition?

Ronnie O’Sullivan is snooker’s greatest breakbuilder and holds the records for making the most century breaks, and the most maximum 147 breaks in professional competition.

O'Sullivan made his maiden century break in a professional event during his first match as a professional on June 20, 1992. His effort of 115 was en route to victory over Jason Scott in UK Championship qualifying at the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool.

15 years later, O'Sullivan notched up his 500th professional career century in a Premier League match against Neil Robertson in Kidderminster.

At the 2015 Masters at the Alexandra Palace in London, 'The Essex Exocet' was roared on by the fans in attendance as he constructed his 775th ton in the final frame of first round win over Ricky Walden. That particular century saw him draw level with Stephen Hendry's all-time record for the most professional centuries by one player, and it was on Hendry's birthday.

Just two days later at the same venue in his next match, O'Sullivan outright broke the centuries record when he struck three figures in the opening frame of his quarter-final win against Marco Fu.

At the 2019 Players Championship, O'Sullivan became the first player to reach the 1,000 professional career centuries landmark. In true showman style, he did it in the tournament-winning frame in the final against Robertson - the same opponent who watched him make his 500th.

Described by Clive Everton on commentary as 'the storybook ending', O'Sullivan received a standing ovation from the crowd at the Guild Hall in Preston; the same venue where O'Sullivan won the 1993 UK Championship as a 17-year-old and burst into sporting stardom.

In Edinburgh for the 2022 Scottish Open, O'Sullivan completed a century break in three minutes and 34 seconds - just three seconds short of the all-time fastest ton in professional play that was set by Tony Drago in 1996.

At the time of writing (October 2024) O'Sullivan has amassed over 1,270 centuries - over 250 more than anyone else.

O'Sullivan has compiled a record 15 maximum 147 breaks in professional tournaments. His first is his most memorable as it came on the sport's grandest stage The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield during the first round of the 1997 World Championship.

On April 21st, in frame 14 of his tie against qualifier Mick Price, O'Sullivan completed perfection in a lightning quick time of five minutes and eight seconds - making it the fastest 147 in professional snooker competition history. The feat also bagged him a £165,000 bonus (£147,000 for the 147 and £18,000 for the highest break of the event).

Six years later, O'Sullivan became the first player to make multiple 147s at the Crucible during a first round loss to Marco Fu. That effort scooped him £169,000.

O'Sullivan's 12th 147 arrived in the final frame of his 2014 Welsh Open final victory over Ding Junhui.

In total, O’Sullivan has made professional maximum breaks in six different nations (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Germany, China).

How much prize money has Ronnie O'Sullivan won in his professional snooker career?

As of October 2024, Ronnie O'Sullivan has earned in excess of £14.5 million in prize money from professional snooker competition.

O'Sullivan's most lucrative season in terms of winnings came in the 2023/24 campaign when he claimed five tournament titles all with six-figure first prizes - four of which were over £200,000.

The Rocket's biggest individual prize is £500,000. He has received this amount twice during his career for winning the 2020 and 2022 World Championships.

As mentioned above in the section about 147 breaks, O'Sullivan has twice picked up big bonus prizes for completing snooker perfection at the World Championship. In 1997 he pocketed £165,000 for over five minutes work, and in 2003 he deposited a further £169,000.

He would have collected another £157,000 for his 147 at the 2008 World Championship, but Ali Carter made a maximum in the same event the next day, therefore the purse was equally shared between them.

On top of competition earnings, O'Sullivan's overall net worth is likely to be considerably more when you consider sponsorships, exhibitions, appearances, endorsements, and the selling of other products such as merchandise and his series of books.

All information in this article is correct as of October 2024