The Triple Crown in the sport of snooker is the achievement of winning three specific events: the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Snooker Championship.[1] First introduced in 1927, the World Snooker Championship reverted to being played as a knockout tournament in 1969, with all subsequent competition considered as the "modern era" of snooker.[2] The Masters was introduced in 1975, and the UK Championship in 1977.[3] The UK Championship was only contested between British residents and passport holders until 1984, when it became open to all professional overseas players.[4][5] The Triple Crown events are generally the most prestigious on the calendar, with the three winners in the 2021–22 snooker season earning more prize money than from any of the other events.[6]
English player Ronnie O'Sullivan has won 23 Triple Crown titles, having contested a record 31 finals. He is one of 11 players to have won each of the three events at least once, the others being Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump.[7][8] The finals held at each of the Triple Crown events are listed below.
Legend | |
---|---|
† | Player has won the career Triple Crown. |
Player | Finals | Winner | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
Ronnie O'Sullivan † | 31 | 23 | 8 |
Stephen Hendry † | 28 | 18 | 10 |
Steve Davis † | 21 | 15 | 6 |
John Higgins † | 18 | 9 | 9 |
Mark Selby † | 14 | 9 | 5 |
Alex Higgins † | 13 | 5 | 8 |
Mark Williams † | 12 | 7 | 5 |
Ray Reardon | 11 | 7 | 4 |
Jimmy White | 11 | 2 | 9 |
Terry Griffiths † | 9 | 3 | 6 |
Shaun Murphy † | 9 | 3 | 6 |
Neil Robertson † | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Ding Junhui | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Judd Trump † | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Ken Doherty | 8 | 1 | 7 |
Cliff Thorburn | 7 | 4 | 3 |
John Parrott | 7 | 2 | 5 |
Doug Mountjoy | 6 | 3 | 3 |
Matthew Stevens | 6 | 2 | 4 |
John Spencer | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Peter Ebdon | 5 | 2 | 3 |
Mark Allen | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Ali Carter | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Paul Hunter | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Dennis Taylor | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Graeme Dott | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Stephen Maguire | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Kyren Wilson | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Barry Hawkins | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Stuart Bingham | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Luca Brecel | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Joe Johnson | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Perrie Mans | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Eddie Charlton | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Marco Fu | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Mike Hallett | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Graham Miles | 2 | 0 | 2 |