The Class of '92 has collectively won 100 ranking titles,[7] of which O'Sullivan has won 41, Higgins 33, and Williams 26. All three players have won each Triple Crown event multiple times, for a combined total of 39 Triple Crown titles.[8][9] 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 2025 World Championship, they have made a combined total of 91 appearances at the event's main stage at the Crucible, with O'Sullivan having featured 33 times, Higgins 31 times, and Williams 27 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); additionally, all three have reached the World Championship quarter-finals on two more occasions, in 2011 and 2025.[15] At least one member of the Class of '92 has featured in 19 of the 28 World Snooker Championship finals contested between 1998 and 2025.
As of August 2025 the Class of '92 has collectively compiled over 3,000 century breaks in professional competition. O'Sullivan passed the 1,300 threshold on 16 August 2025,[16] Higgins passed the 1,000 threshold on 19 September 2024,[17] and Williams passed the 600 threshold on 21 September 2023.[18][19] These include 33 officially recognised maximum breaks, of which O'Sullivan has made 17, Higgins 13, and Williams 3.[20][21] 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.[22]
Longevity
Known for their longevity in the sport, the Class of '92 players have continued to win titles and set records into their late 40s. At the end of the 2021–22 snooker season, marking the end of 30 seasons on the professional tour, all three players were ranked within the top eight in the world.[20] At the end of the 2024–25 season—in the same year the members of the Class of '92 all turned 50—all three were ranked in the top five.[23]
As of May 2025, O'Sullivan is the oldest winner of all three Triple Crown events, having won his seventh world title in 2022, aged 46years and 148days;[24] his eighth UK Championship title in 2023, aged 47years and 363days;[25] and his eighth Masters title in 2024, aged 48years and 40days.[26] He is the oldest player to have made a maximum break in professional competition, having made his 16th and 17th maximums in his semi-final match at the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, aged 49 years and 253 days.[27] O'Sullivan has made the most appearances in the final stages of the World Championship at the Crucible, with 33 as of the 2025 event;[28] Higgins is second, having made 31 appearances.[29] At the 2024 Tour Championship, O'Sullivan and Williams set a record for the highest combined age (97) in any ranking snooker final.[30] At the 2025 World Snooker Championship, Williams, aged 50years and 44days, became the oldest player to contest a world final, surpassing Reardon, who had been 49years and 219days old when he competed in the final of the 1982 event.[31]
Higgins holds the record for the longest uninterrupted tenure in the top 16 of the world rankings, at over 29 years; he first entered the top 16 in the 1995–96 snooker world rankings and remained a top-16 player continuously until the conclusion of the 2024 English Open, a period spanning 10,738 days.[32][33] At the 2025 Tour Championship, he became the second-oldest player to win a ranking event, aged 49years and 323days, behind only Ray Reardon, who had won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament aged 50years and 14days.[34] Higgins holds the record for the longest interval between a player's first and most recent ranking title, having won the 2025 Tour Championship 30years and 165days after his maiden ranking title at the 1994 Grand Prix.[34]
Honours
All three players were honoured by Queen Elizabeth II for their services to snooker. Williams received an MBE in 2004,[35] Higgins received an MBE in 2009,[36] and O'Sullivan received an OBE in 2016.[37] All three have been inducted into the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame.[38]
Triple Crown and ranking events
The three players have won a total of 100 ranking events to date, O'Sullivan having won 41, Higgins 33, and Williams 26. They have also achieved 39 Triple Crown wins between them, O'Sullivan having won 23, Higgins 9, and Williams 7.
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