Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark Selby
Stat by stat
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 Mark Selby at #7.
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 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.