Mark Allen will end the 2023/24 snooker season as the sport’s newest world number one on the official rankings list.
Defeats for Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump in the World Championship quarter-finals on Wednesday ensure that the Pistol can’t be caught at the top.
The official world rankings in snooker are based on a two-year rolling system which tallies prize money earned from ranking events during that period.
In the last two campaigns on the World Snooker Tour, Allen has triumphed in an impressive five ranking tournaments.
That consistent run of success has included victories in last term’s UK Championship and at this season’s Players Championship.
Allen also emerged with the trophy in November’s Champion of Champions, although as an invitational event it didn’t carry ranking points.
The 38 year-old becomes only the 12th player in snooker history to become the world number one in the official rankings.
“One of my lifetime goals achieved,” Mark Allen wrote on social media platform X following O’Sullivan’s Crucible exit.
“Not quite the way I’d hoped to get there, but I’ll take it. Six wins, a runner-up, and countless semis in the last two seasons and this is my reward.”
“(I) need to continue the consistency to try and stay there now.”
World number one players in snooker
1. Ray Reardon
2. Cliff Thorburn
3. Steve Davis
4. Stephen Hendry
5. John Higgins
6. Mark Williams
7. Ronnie O’Sullivan
8. Neil Robertson
9. Mark Selby
10. Judd Trump
11. Ding Junhui
12. Mark Allen
The Pistol led the provisional end-of-season rankings heading into the 2024 World Snooker Championship.
Seven players mathematically could have usurped him at the start of the tournament in Sheffield, but one by one they each fell by the wayside.
Trump, who could have got back to number one by reaching the final, produced a poor display in a shock reverse to Jak Jones.
O’Sullivan, meanwhile, has enjoyed a stranglehold at the summit since April in 2022, but the Rocket needed to capture the world title to extend his reign and was dumped out by Stuart Bingham in the last eight.
Allen, who lost a dramatic second-round fixture with John Higgins that concluded with the Scot potting the final black in the deciding frame, is only the second player after Ding Junhui to be world number one and not have a World Championship title on his CV.
Trump is guaranteed to finish the season in the number two spot, with Luca Brecel, O’Sullivan, and Mark Selby provisionally rounding off the top five.
Should he land a maiden world crown, Kyren Wilson would upset that order and jump to a career-high status of number three in the world.
Unseeded World Championship qualifiers David Gilbert, Stuart Bingham, and Jak Jones would all leapfrog their way into the top 16 if they reach the final this weekend.
2024 World Snooker Championship Draw
Round 1 (bo19)
Luca Brecel (1) 9-10 David Gilbert
Robert Milkins (16) 10-9 Pang Junxu
Ali Carter (9) 7-10 Stephen Maguire
Shaun Murphy (8) 10-5 Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby (5) 6-10 Joe O’Connor
Kyren Wilson (12) 10-1 Dominic Dale
John Higgins (13) 10-6 Jamie Jones
Mark Allen (4) 10-6 Robbie Williams
Judd Trump (3) 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
Tom Ford (14) 10-6 Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda (11) 4-10 Jak Jones
Mark Williams (6) 9-10 Si Jiahui
Ding Junhui (7) 9-10 Jack Lisowski
Gary Wilson (10) 5-10 Stuart Bingham
Barry Hawkins (15) 8-10 Ryan Day
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 10-1 Jackson Page
Round 2 (bo25)
David Gilbert 13-4 Robert Milkins (16)
Stephen Maguire 13-9 Shaun Murphy (8)
Joe O’Connor 6-13 Kyren Wilson (12)
John Higgins (13) 13-12 Mark Allen (4)
Judd Trump (3) 13-7 Tom Ford (14)
Jak Jones 13-9 Si Jiahui
Jack Lisowski 11-13 Stuart Bingham
Ryan Day 7-13 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Quarter-Finals (bo25)
David Gilbert 13-8 Stephen Maguire
Kyren Wilson (12) 13-8 John Higgins (13)
Judd Trump (3) 9-13 Jak Jones
Stuart Bingham 13-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Semi-Finals (bo33)
David Gilbert 11-17 Kyren Wilson (12)
Jak Jones 17-12 Stuart Bingham
Final (bo35)
Kyren Wilson (12) 18-14 Jak Jones
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Featured photo credit: WST
