Who will be world number one after the 2024 World Snooker Championship?

Credit: Getty Images/Dan IstiteneCredit: Getty Images/Dan Istitene
Credit: Getty Images/Dan Istitene | Getty Images/Dan Istitene
There is a six-way race for professional snooker’s world number one honour

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s world number one status is under serious threat throughout the ongoing 2024 World Snooker Championship.

With snooker’s blue riband event holding a £500,000 winner’s purse, the tournament has a huge influence on the world rankings which uses a cumulative prize money list for cash earned at ranked events. For more information on how the professional snooker rankings work, please visit here.

With the rankings being on a rolling two-year cycle, O’Sullivan will lose the £500,000 he won at the 2022 World Championship from his overall total, although he will add the prize money he earns this year (provided he doesn’t lose in the first round).

‘The Rocket’ has been top of the league since the start of April 2022. This two-year-plus spell represents his longest stint at the summit, but only a modern-era record eighth world title will see him maintain the number one spot past this year’s world championship.

Going into the 2024 World Championship, eight players could end the season as the world number one, but following the early exits of Luca Brecel and Mark Selby, that group of contenders has now been narrowed down to six.

The provisional world number one at the moment is Mark Allen, who only has £30,000 coming off his total due to a Crucible last 16 defeat in 2022. Allen - a winner of five ranking titles within the past 18 months - would be the first player from Northern Ireland to achieve the feat.

A former multiple-time world number one, Judd Trump is firmly in the picture to reclaim the honour, although the current world number two has £200,000 dropping from his rolling total due to being the runner-up to O’Sullivan two years ago. There are several permutations how Trump could finish the term number one - several of them depending on Allen’s result - but ‘The Ace in the Pack’ would be guaranteed the honour if he collects his second world title on May 6.

Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui and Mark Williams are also in the race for world number one, but they all need to win the title to have a chance, and even then, they require other results to go their way. Murphy has yet to be world number one during his career.

As the action at this year’s Crucible unfolds, we will keep you up to date on social media when it comes to the world number one landscape.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Register
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice