Triple Crown (snooker)

series of professional snooker tournaments

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.

Logo of the Triple Crown Series

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

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By season

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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)  (11/15)   Steve Davis (ENG)  (12/15)   Steve Davis (ENG)  (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)  (2/18)   Stephen Hendry (SCO)  (3/18)   Stephen Hendry (SCO)  (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)  (14/18)   Stephen Hendry (SCO)  (15/18)   Stephen Hendry (SCO)  (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)  (4/7)   Mark Williams (WAL)  (5/7)   Mark Williams (WAL)  (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  
Player won two Triple Crown tournaments in the same season

Multiple Triple Crown event winners

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

References

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  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.
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  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.