James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won four seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, swift and attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, a record four-time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
Ding Junhui is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport and widely regarded as the greatest Asian player of all time. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships. He has twice reached the final of the Masters, winning once in 2011. In 2016, he became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championship.
Mark James Williams is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003 and 2018. Often noted for his long potting ability, Williams has earned the nickname "The Welsh Potting Machine".
Stephen Gordon Hendry is a Scottish professional snooker player who is best known for dominating the sport during the 1990s, when he became one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry rose rapidly through the snooker world rankings, reaching number four in the world by the end of his third professional season. He won his first World Snooker Championship in 1990 aged 21 years and 106 days, surpassing Alex Higgins as the sport's youngest world champion, a record he still holds. From 1990 to 1999, he won seven world titles, setting a modern-era record that stood outright until Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled it in 2022. Hendry also won the Masters six times and the UK Championship five times for a career total of 18 Triple Crown tournament wins, a total exceeded only by O'Sullivan's 21. His total of 36 ranking titles is second only to O'Sullivan's 39, while his nine seasons as world number one were the most by any player under the annual ranking system used until 2010.
John Higgins, is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry (36). Since turning professional in 1992, he has won four World Championships, three UK Championships and two Masters titles, for a total of nine Triple Crown titles. This achievement puts him on a par with Mark Selby and behind only O'Sullivan (21), Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). A prolific break-builder, Higgins has compiled over 900 century breaks in professional competition, including 12 maximum breaks in professional tournaments, second only to O'Sullivan's 15. He has achieved the world number 1 ranking position on four occasions.
Alan McManus is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator and pundit for ITV and Eurosport on snooker coverage. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Dubai Classic and the 1996 Thailand Open, and competed in the World Championship semi-finals in 1992, 1993 and 2016. He also won the 1994 Masters, ending Stephen Hendry's five-year, 23-match unbeaten streak at the tournament with a 9–8 victory in the final. McManus announced his retirement on 9 April 2021 after losing 6–3 to Bai Langning in the second qualifying round of the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
Stephen Maguire is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in 1998 after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship. He was in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for 11 consecutive years, from 2005 to 2016, twice reaching world no. 2. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled over 500 century breaks, including three maximums.
Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former world champion and former world number one. To date, he is the most successful player from outside the United Kingdom, and the only non-UK born to have completed snooker's Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2010, the Masters in 2012 and 2022, and the UK Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2020. He has claimed a career total of 23 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year between 2006 and 2022.
The 2005 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament started on 16 April, and ended on 2 May 2005. The event was the eighth and final world ranking event of the 2004–05 snooker season, following the 2005 China Open. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Due to laws banning advertising cigarettes in Great Britain, this was the last time the event was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy. The event had a prize fund of £1,121,800, with the winner receiving £250,000.
The 2004 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 April and 3 May 2004 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 2006 UK Championship was the 2006 edition of the UK Championship, a professional snooker tournament that is one of the sport's three Triple Crown events. It was held from 4 to 17 December 2006 at the Barbican Centre in York, North Yorkshire. The competition was the third of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season and the 30th edition of the tournament. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the BBC and Eurosport.
The 2005 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament and the 2005 edition of the UK Championship. It was held at the Barbican Centre in York, North Yorkshire, England from 5 to 18 December 2005. The competition was the second of six World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association ranking events in the 2005–06 snooker season, the first of the three Triple Crown events, and the tournament's 29th edition. It preceded the Malta Cup and followed the Grand Prix. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the BBC and Eurosport.
The 2005 Masters was the 2005 edition of the non-ranking Masters professional snooker tournament. It was held from 13 to 20 February 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, London. The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and by Eurosport in Europe.
The 2007 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8 and 16 December 2007 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England.
The 2008 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 2008 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 32nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre, and the seventh and final ranking event of the 2007–08 snooker season. The tournament was organised by World Snooker, and sponsored by betting company 888.com. The tournament featured a total prize fund of £1,050,000 with £250,000 being awarded to the winner.
Matthew Selt is an English professional snooker player originally from Romford, east London and now living in Chelmsford, Essex. He qualified for the professional tour by finishing seventh on the Pontin's International Open Series in 2006/2007. Selt played in his first professional final in 2014 at the minor-ranking Lisbon Open, which he lost to Stephen Maguire, and has reached five quarter-finals in full ranking events. Selt won his first ranking title when he beat Lyu Haotian in the 2019 Indian Open final.
The 2007 Welsh Open was the 2007 edition of the Welsh Open professional snooker tournament and was held from 12 to 18 February 2007 at the Newport Centre in Newport, South East Wales. It was the 16th staging of the competition since 1992 and the tenth time it took place at the Newport Centre. The tournament was the fifth of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season. The host broadcasters were BBC Cymru Wales and Eurosport.
The 2004 British Open was the 2004 edition of the British Open snooker tournament, held from 8 to 14 November 2004 at Brighton Centre, Brighton, England. John Higgins won the tournament, defeating Stephen Maguire nine frames to six in the all-Scottish final to lift his first ranking-event title since the 2001 edition of this event. In the semi-finals, Higgins defeated Shaun Murphy 6–0 and Maguire defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–1. The defending champion Stephen Hendry lost in the quarter-finals. Higgins made the highest tournament break with his two breaks of 144. The tournament was the second of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2004/2005 snooker season, following the Grand Prix in October, which was won by O'Sullivan. It preceded the third ranking event of the season, the UK Championship.
The 2004 European Open was the 2004 edition of the European Open snooker tournament, held from 1 to 6 March 2004, at the Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso, Malta. It was the final year the event was known as European Open, as the event was renamed to Malta Cup in next year. Stephen Maguire defeated Jimmy White by nine frames to three (9–3) in the final to claim his first ranking-event title, transforming him from "talented underachiever into a world-ranking event winner", according to The Times. In the semi-finals Maguire defeated Stephen Lee and White beat Tony Drago. The tournament was the fifth of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2003/2004 season, following the Welsh Open and preceding the Irish Masters.
Ronnie O'Sullivan started his professional snooker career in 1992 and is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. His play and accomplishments are described by some peers and pundits as being the greatest in the modern era of snooker. O'Sullivan is a seven-time world champion, and holds many records, including the fastest maximum break in professional competition; the highest number of century breaks; the highest number of maximum breaks, and the most Triple Crown event titles (21).
John Higgins (SCO) (147)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
