Ray Reardon
Mark Selby
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Dead even across the measured categories. Our all-time ranking places Ray Reardon at #6 and Mark Selby at #7.
The case for Ray Reardon
The dominant figure of snooker's television revival and the bridge between the amateur game and the professional boom. A former coal miner and policeman, Reardon turned professional in 1967 and won six world titles in nine years (1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978), reaching seven finals in all. He became the first official world number one when the ranking system was introduced in 1976, and his 1978 title made him world champion at 45, the oldest until Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2022. He also won the Masters in 1976, taking his Triple Crown tally to seven. Because ranking events barely existed in his prime — the World Championship was the only one until 1982 — his single ranking title badly understates his record. Nicknamed Dracula for his widow's peak and his habit of finishing opponents off slowly, he later coached O'Sullivan through his 2004 world title.
The case for Mark Selby
The hardest man in modern snooker to beat over a long match. Selby has four world titles (2014, 2016, 2017, 2021) from six finals, more than 20 ranking titles, and eight Triple Crown titles including the 2012 UK Championship and three Masters (2008, 2010, 2013). He has passed 800 career centuries. His reputation rests on attrition: a safety game good enough to strangle opponents for whole sessions, an unusual willingness to play a frame out over an hour, and a recovery rate from behind that has produced repeated Crucible comebacks, most notably from 10-4 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2014 final. The caricature of him as purely defensive is unfair — in the 2023 world final against Luca Brecel he made the first maximum break ever compiled in a World Championship final. Known as the Jester from Leicester, he has spent long spells as world number one across three separate periods.