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🎱Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Ding Junhui

Head to head · Snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan
#1

Ronnie O'Sullivan

England · 1992-present

VS
#12

Ding Junhui

China · 2003-present

Stat by stat

7 World titles 0
40+ Ranking titles 14+
23 Triple Crown titles 4
1,200+ Career centuries 500+

Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.

The verdict

Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Ronnie O'Sullivan at #1 and Ding Junhui at #12.

Head-to-head FAQ

Who leads more shared metrics?
Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 4 of 4 shared teaching metrics on this page.
How do the published ranks compare?
Ronnie O'Sullivan is ranked #1; Ding Junhui is ranked #12 in this sport’s GOAT list.
Are these live stats?
No — bars and FAQ answers are editorial, scaled teaching marks. Open the GOAT lab to rescale your own selection.

The case for Ronnie O'Sullivan

The most complete resume in the sport's history, assembled over four decades. O'Sullivan won the 1993 UK Championship at 17 years and 358 days, still the youngest winner of a ranking event, and was still winning majors in his late forties. He holds seven world titles (2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020, 2022), eight UK Championships and eight Masters, giving him 23 Triple Crown titles, more than anyone. He has more ranking titles than any player, having passed 40, and more career centuries than anyone, having become the first to 1,000 in 2019 and pushed past 1,200 since. His 15 official maximum breaks are a record, including the 5 minute 8 second 147 against Mick Price at the Crucible in 1997. His 2022 world title, won at 46, made him the oldest Crucible champion. Naturally left-handed and able to play to a high standard right-handed, he combines the fastest execution in the game with the finest cue ball control of his era.

The case for Ding Junhui

The most successful Asian player in the sport's history and the single figure most responsible for its expansion into China. Ding won the 2005 China Open in Beijing at 18, beating Stephen Hendry 9-5 in front of an enormous home audience, and has since taken more than 14 ranking titles, more than any other player from Asia. His Triple Crown record stands at four: three UK Championships (2005, 2009, 2019) and the 2011 Masters. In 2013-14 he won five ranking events in a single season, equalling Hendry's record for a campaign. He reached the 2016 world final, the first Asian player to do so, losing 18-14 to Mark Selby, and has passed 500 career centuries. The absence of a world title is the gap in his case, but the academies, sponsorships and junior pathways that produced Zhao Xintong's 2025 championship were built on the interest Ding created twenty years earlier.

More head-to-heads

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