Class of '92 (snooker)

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Class of '92
Ronnie O'Sullivan PHC 2011-1.png
Ronnie O'Sullivan [lower-alpha 1]
John Higgins PHC 2015.jpg
John Higgins [lower-alpha 2]
Mark Williams at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2015-02-05 02.jpg
Mark Williams [lower-alpha 3]

The Class of '92 is a group of three professional snooker players: Ronnie O'Sullivan from England, John Higgins from Scotland, and Mark Williams from Wales. All three were born in 1975, Williams on 21 March, [1] Higgins on 18 May, [2] and O'Sullivan on 5 December. [3] They all turned professional during the 1992–93 snooker season, and have become known for their collective dominance of the sport, as well as their longevity as top‑ranked players. [4] [5]

Contents

Honours

The Class of '92 has collectively won 98 ranking titles, with O'Sullivan having won 41, Higgins 31, and Williams 26. All three players have won each Triple Crown event multiple times, for a combined total of 39 Triple Crown titles. [6] [7] At the end of the 2021–22 snooker season, after 30 seasons on the professional tour, all three players were ranked within the top eight in the world. [8] In terms of their collective dominance and longevity, O'Sullivan has compared the Class of '92 to the Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal in men's singles tennis. [9]

At least one member of the Class of '92 featured in 18 of the 25 World Snooker Championship finals contested between 1998 and 2022. The three players have won a combined 14 world titles, three by Williams, in 2000, 2003, and 2018; [10] four by Higgins, in 1998, 2007, 2009, and 2011; [11] and a record-equalling seven by O'Sullivan, in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020, and 2022. [12] As of the 2024 World Championship, they have made a combined total of 88 appearances at the event's main stage at the Crucible, with O'Sullivan having featured 32 times, Higgins 30 times, and Williams 26 times. [13] [14] All three players have reached the semi-finals of the World Championship on three occasions: in 1998 (with Ken Doherty), in 1999 (with Stephen Hendry), and in 2022 (with Judd Trump).

The Class of '92 has collectively compiled over 2,850 century breaks in professional competition, including 31 officially recognised maximum breaks, of which O'Sullivan has made 15, Higgins 13, and Williams 3. [8] From the time Higgins first became world number one in May 1998 until the end of the 2023–24 snooker season, the Class of '92 players held the top ranking spot for a cumulative 5,334 out of a total 9,499 days. [15]

Longevity

More than three decades after turning professional, the Class of '92 continues to win events and has set longevity records in the sport. As of January 2024, O'Sullivan holds records as the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events, having won his seventh world title in 2022, aged 46 years and 148 days; [16] his eighth UK Championship title in 2023, aged 47 years and 363 days; [17] and his eighth Masters title in 2024, aged 48 years and 40 days. [18] O'Sullivan has made more appearances than any other player in the final stages of the World Championship at the Crucible, with 32 as of the 2024 event. During the 2023–24 season, Williams won the 2023 British Open aged 48 years and 194 days and the 2024 Tour Championship aged 49 years and 17 days, making him the second-oldest player to win a ranking event, after Ray Reardon, who won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament aged 50 years and 14 days. [19] When Williams faced O'Sullivan in the 2024 Tour Championship final on 7 April 2024, the two players set a record for the highest combined age in any ranking snooker final. [20] Higgins has spent the most consecutive seasons ranked within the world's top 16 players, his record standing at 29 seasons at the end of the 2023–24 season. [8] Higgins also holds the record as the oldest player to make a maximum break in professional competition, achieved at the 2024 Championship League when he was aged 48 years and 268 days. [21]

Triple Crown and ranking events

The three players have won a total of 98 ranking events to date, O'Sullivan having won 41, Higgins 31, and Williams 26. They have also achieved 39 Triple Crown wins between them, O'Sullivan having won 23, Higgins 9, and Williams 7.

Triple Crown

Tournament Ronnie O'Sullivan John Higgins Mark Williams Total
World Championship 74314
UK Championship 83213
Masters 82212
Total239739

Ranking events

Tournament Ronnie O'Sullivan John Higgins Mark Williams Total
World Championship 74314
UK Championship 83213
Welsh Open 45211
World Open 1449
British Open 1438
German Masters 2226
China Open 2136
Scottish Open 2204
World Grand Prix 3003
Shanghai Masters 2103
Players Championship 2103
European Masters 1113
Thailand Masters 0033
Irish Masters 2002
Tour Championship 1012
Northern Ireland Trophy 1001
Dubai Classic 1001
English Open 1001
International Championship 0101
Indian Open 0101
Australian Goldfields Open 0101
Northern Ireland Open 0011
WST Pro Series 0011
Total41312698

Time as World Number one

PlayerFromToDaysTotal
Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, and Stephen Hendry.
John Higgins5 May 19981 May 20007287 years, 11 months, and 27 days
Mark Williams2 May 20006 May 2002735
Ronnie O'Sullivan7 May 20025 May 2003364
Mark Williams6 May 20033 May 2004364
Ronnie O'Sullivan4 May 20041 May 2006728
Stephen Hendry.
John Higgins8 May 20075 May 20083643 years, 4 months, and 19 days
Ronnie O'Sullivan6 May 20083 May 2010728
John Higgins4 May 201026 September 2010146
Neil Robertson.
John Higgins13 December 20102 May 20111418 months and 30 days
Mark Williams3 May 201111 September 2011132
Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, and Ding Junhui.
Ronnie O'Sullivan25 March 201911 August 20191404 months and 18 days
Judd Trump and Mark Selby.
Ronnie O'Sullivan4 April 20226 May 2024 [lower-alpha 4] 7642 years, 1 month, and 3 days
Mark Allen.
Total: 5,334 of a possible 9,499 days. (
Source: World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. [15]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ O'Sullivan at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic.
  2. ↑ Higgins at the 2015 Paul Hunter Classic.
  3. ↑ Williams at the 2015 German Masters.
  4. ↑ The end of the 2023–24 season.

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References

  1. ↑ "Mark Williams". World Snooker Tour . Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "John Higgins". World Snooker Tour . Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "Ronnie O'Sullivan". World Snooker Tour . Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  4. ↑ Staniforth, Mark (28 April 2022). "Snooker's 'Class of 92' – John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams reach World Championship semis". Irish Independent . Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. ↑ Alderman, Elgan (9 August 2023). "Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams thriving as snooker's 'three Mexicanos'" . The Times . ISSN   0140-0460. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  6. ↑ "A Class Apart?". WPBSA . 23 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Parsons, Ben (25 April 2022). "Higgins hails snooker's Class of 92 after securing World Championship quarter-final". Telegraph & Argus . Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 Hendon, Dave (20 June 2022). "How Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams achieved snooker immortality - 30 years of Class of '92". Eurosport . Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "O'Sullivan compares 'Class of 92' to tennis greats". BBC Sport . 28 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ↑ Hafez, Shamoon (7 May 2018). "Mark Williams beats John Higgins to win third title". BBC Sport . Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Ashenden, Mark (2 May 2011). "Higgins beats Trump to win fourth title". BBC Sport . Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ronnie O'Sullivan wins sixth World Snooker Championship at Crucible". Sky Sports . 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Bower, Aaron (15 April 2023). "O'Sullivan survives Pang fightback to seal first-round win at the Crucible". The Observer . ISSN   0029-7712. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Williams hits Robertson for six". World Snooker Tour . 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Ranking Records". WPBSA . Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  16. ↑ Kane, Desmond (3 May 2022). "'A miraculous work of sports Pulp Fiction' – How Ronnie O'Sullivan defied time to cement legacy as snooker GOAT". Eurosport . Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  17. ↑ "Oldest winner of snooker's UK Championship". Guinness World Records . 3 December 2023. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "Rocket soars to eighth Masters crown". World Snooker Tour . 14 January 2024. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "Wonderful Williams claims gold in Cheltenham". World Snooker Tour . 2 October 2023. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "Mark Williams beats Ronnie O'Sullivan in Tour Championship final after winning seven frames in a row". Sky Sports . 7 April 2024. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  21. ↑ "Higgins makes 13th maximum". World Snooker Tour . 10 February 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
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