Triple Crown (snooker)

Logo of the Triple Crown Series

The Triple Crown in snooker is winning three tournaments, the World Championship, the UK Championship, and the Masters. These three events together make up the Triple Crown Series. Each individual tournament is called a Triple Crown event. Players who win all three tournaments are said to have "won the Triple Crown", either over their career, or in one season alone. The Triple Crown dates back to the 1969 World Snooker Championship, when the event changed reverted to a knockout format from the prior "challenge" basis.

As of 2020, 11 players have won all three events. Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan won each event five times or more. O'Sullivan has the most titles, having won 19 individual tournaments. Three players have won all three in the space of a season. Mark Williams, Steve Davis each won all three and Hendry having done so on two occasions.

Tournament winners

By season

A list of all winners of the three Triple Crown events is shown below by season:

Season UK Championship[1][2] The Masters[3][4] World Championship[5][6] Ref.
1968–69 started in 1977/1978 started in 1974/1975  John Spencer (ENG) (1/4) [7]
1969–70  Ray Reardon (WAL) (1/7) [7]
1970–71  John Spencer (ENG) (2/4) [7]
1971–72  Alex Higgins (NIR) (1/5) [7]
1972–73  Ray Reardon (WAL) (2/7) [7]
1973–74  Ray Reardon (WAL) (3/7) [7]
1974–75  John Spencer (ENG) (3/4)  Ray Reardon (WAL) (4/7) [8][7]
1975–76  Ray Reardon (WAL)† (5/7)  Ray Reardon (WAL)† (6/7) [8][7]
1976–77  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) (1/3)  John Spencer (ENG) (4/4) [8][7]
1977–78  Patsy Fagan (IRL)  Alex Higgins (NIR) (2/5)  Ray Reardon (WAL) (7/7) [8][7]
1978–79  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) (2/3)  Perrie Mans (RSA)  Terry Griffiths (WAL) (1/3) [8][7]
1979–80  John Virgo (ENG)  Terry Griffiths (WAL) (2/3)  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) (1/4) [9][8][7]
1980–81  Steve Davis (ENG)† (1/15)  Alex Higgins (NIR) (3/5)  Steve Davis (ENG)† (2/15) [9][8][7]
1981–82  Steve Davis (ENG)† (3/15)  Steve Davis (ENG)† (4/15)  Alex Higgins (NIR) (4/5) [9][8][7]
1982–83  Terry Griffiths (WAL) (3/3)  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) (2/4)  Steve Davis (ENG) (5/15) [9][8][7]
1983–84  Alex Higgins (NIR) (5/5)  Jimmy White (ENG) (1/2)  Steve Davis (ENG) (6/15) [9][8][7]
1984–85  Steve Davis (ENG) (7/15)  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) (3/4)  Dennis Taylor (NIR) (1/2) [9][8][7]
1985–86  Steve Davis (ENG) (8/15)  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) (4/4)  Joe Johnson (ENG) [9][8][7]
1986–87  Steve Davis (ENG)† (9/15)  Dennis Taylor (NIR) (2/2)  Steve Davis (ENG)† (10/15) [9][8][7]
1987–88  Steve Davis (ENG)double-dagger (11/15)  Steve Davis (ENG)double-dagger (12/15)  Steve Davis (ENG)double-dagger (13/15) [9][8][7]
1988–89  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) (3/3)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) (1/18)  Steve Davis (ENG) (14/15) [9][8][7]
1989–90  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (2/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (3/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (4/18) [9][8][7]
1990–91  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (5/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (6/18)  John Parrott (ENG) (1/2) [9][8][7]
1991–92  John Parrott (ENG) (2/2)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (7/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (8/18) [9][8][7]
1992–93  Jimmy White (ENG) (2/2)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (9/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (10/18) [9][8][7]
1993–94  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (1/19)  Alan McManus (SCO)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) (11/18) [9][8][7]
1994–95  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (12/18)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (2/19)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)† (13/18) [9][8][7]
1995–96  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (14/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (15/18)  Stephen Hendry (SCO)double-dagger (16/18) [9][8][7]
1996–97  Stephen Hendry (SCO) (17/18)  Steve Davis (ENG) (15/15)  Ken Doherty (IRL) [9][8][7]
1997–98  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3/19)  Mark Williams (WAL) (1/7)  John Higgins (SCO) (1/9) [9][8][7]
1998–99  John Higgins (SCO)† (2/9)  John Higgins (SCO)† (3/9)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) (18/18) [9][8][7]
1999–2000  Mark Williams (WAL)† (2/7)  Matthew Stevens (WAL) (1/2)  Mark Williams (WAL)† (3/7) [9][8][7]
2000–01  John Higgins (SCO) (4/9)  Paul Hunter (ENG) (1/3)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (4/19) [9][8][7]
2001–02  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (5/19)  Paul Hunter (ENG) (2/3)  Peter Ebdon (ENG) (1/2) [9][8][7]
2002–03  Mark Williams (WAL)double-dagger (4/7)  Mark Williams (WAL)double-dagger (5/7)  Mark Williams (WAL)double-dagger (6/7) [9][8][7]
2003–04  Matthew Stevens (WAL) (2/2)  Paul Hunter (ENG) (3/3)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (6/19) [9][8][7]
2004–05  Stephen Maguire (SCO)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (7/19)  Shaun Murphy (ENG) (1/3) [9][8][7]
2005–06  Ding Junhui (CHN) (1/4)  John Higgins (SCO) (5/9)  Graeme Dott (SCO) [9][8][7]
2006–07  Peter Ebdon (ENG) (2/2)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (8/19)  John Higgins (SCO) (6/9) [9][8][7]
2007–08  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)† (9/19)  Mark Selby (ENG) (1/8)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)† (10/19) [9][8][7]
2008–09  Shaun Murphy (ENG) (2/3)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (11/19)  John Higgins (SCO) (7/9) [9][8][7]
2009–10  Ding Junhui (CHN) (2/4)  Mark Selby (ENG) (2/8)  Neil Robertson (AUS) (1/4) [9][8][7]
2010–11  John Higgins (SCO)† (8/9)  Ding Junhui (CHN) (3/4)  John Higgins (SCO)† (9/9) [9][8][7]
2011–12  Judd Trump (ENG) (1/3)  Neil Robertson (AUS) (2/4)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (12/19) [10][11][12]
2012–13  Mark Selby (ENG) (3/8)  Mark Selby (ENG) (4/8)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (13/19) [13][14][15]
2013–14  Neil Robertson (AUS) (3/4)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (14/19)  Mark Selby (ENG) (5/8) [16][17][18]
2014–15  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (15/19)  Shaun Murphy (ENG) (3/3)  Stuart Bingham (ENG) (1/2) [19][20][21]
2015–16  Neil Robertson (AUS) (4/4)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (16/19)  Mark Selby (ENG) (6/8) [22][23][24]
2016–17  Mark Selby (ENG)† (7/8)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (17/19)  Mark Selby (ENG)† (8/8) [25][26][27]
2017–18  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (18/19)  Mark Allen (NIR)  Mark Williams (WAL) (7/7) [28][29][30]
2018–19  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (19/19)  Judd Trump (ENG)† (2/3)  Judd Trump (ENG)† (3/3) [31][32][33]
2019–20  Ding Junhui (CHN) (4/4)  Stuart Bingham (ENG) (2/2) [34][35]
Legend
Player won all three Triple Crown tournaments in the same season double-dagger
Player won two Triple Crown tournaments in the same season †

Multiple Triple Crown event winners

Player Total World Championship[7] UK Championship[9] Masters[8] Winning span
England Ronnie O'Sullivan†double-dagger 19 5 7 7 1993–2018
Scotland Stephen Hendrydouble-dagger 18 7 5 6 1989–1999
England Steve Davisdouble-dagger 15 6 6 3 1980–1997
Scotland John Higgins†double-dagger 9 4 3 2 1998–2011
England Mark Selby†double-dagger 9 4 2 3 2008-2021
Wales Ray Reardon 7 6 0 1 1970–1978
Wales Mark Williams†double-dagger 7 3 2 2 1998–2018
Northern Ireland Alex Higginsdouble-dagger 5 2 1 2 1972–1983
England John Spencer 4 3 0 1 1969–1977
Australia Neil Robertson†double-dagger 4 1 2 1 2010–2015
Canada Cliff Thorburn 4 1 0 3 1980–1986
China Ding Junhui† 4 0 3 1 2005–2019
Wales Terry Griffithsdouble-dagger 3 1 1 1 1979–1982
England Shaun Murphy†double-dagger 3 1 1 1 2005–2015
England Judd Trump†double-dagger 3 1 1 1 2011–2019
Wales Doug Mountjoy 3 0 2 1 1977–1988
England Paul Hunter 3 0 0 3 2001–2004
England Peter Ebdon 2 1 1 0 2002–2006
England John Parrott 2 1 1 0 1991–1991
England Stuart Bingham† 2 1 0 1 2015–2020
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 2 1 0 1 1985–1987
Wales Matthew Stevens† 2 0 1 1 2000–2003
England Jimmy White† 2 0 1 1 1984–1992
Legend
Player has won all Triple Crown events at least once double-dagger
The names of active players are marked in bold †

References

  1. ↑ Turner, Chris. "UK Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Hall of Fame (UK Championship)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Turner, Chris. "The Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Hall of Fame (Masters)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Hall of Fame (World Championship)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 7.30 7.31 7.32 7.33 7.34 7.35 7.36 7.37 7.38 7.39 7.40 7.41 7.42 7.43 "Betfred World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 8.26 8.27 8.28 8.29 8.30 8.31 8.32 8.33 8.34 8.35 8.36 8.37 "Dafabet Masters". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 9.22 9.23 9.24 9.25 9.26 9.27 9.28 9.29 9.30 9.31 9.32 "Betway UK Championship 2019". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "williamhill.com UK Championship (2011)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "BGC Masters (2012)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Betfred.com World Championship (2012)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  13. ↑ "williamhill.com UK Championship (2012)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "Betfair Masters (2013)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Betfair World Championship (2013)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "williamhill.com UK Championship (2013)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "Dafabet World Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "Coral UK Championship (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  20. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2015)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "World Championship (2015)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  22. ↑ "Betway UK Championship (2015)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2016)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Betfred World Championship (2016)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Betway UK Championship (2016)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  26. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2017)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  27. ↑ "Betfred World Championship (2017)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  28. ↑ "Betway UK Championship (2017)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  29. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2018)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  30. ↑ "Betfred World Championship (2018)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  31. ↑ "Betway UK Championship (2018)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  32. ↑ "Dafabet Masters (2019)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  33. ↑ Harris, Daniel (6 May 2019). "World Snooker Championship: Trump beats Higgins 18–9 to win 2019 final". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  34. ↑ "Ding Junhui holds off Stephen Maguire to win third UK Championship". the Guardian. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  35. ↑ "Masters 2020: Stuart Bingham fights back to beat Ali Carter and win title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 April 2020.