The currentTriple Crown logo since January 2024 (left) and previous logo (right).
TheTriple Crown in professionalsnooker refers to winning the sport's three longest-running and most prestigious tournaments: theWorld Snooker Championship (first held in1927 and staged as a knockout tournament continuously since1969), the invitationalMasters (held annually since1975), and theUK Championship (held annually since1977). In January 2020, the three tournaments were formally named theTriple Crown Series.
Davis, Hendry, and Williams are the only three players to have won all three Triple Crown events in a single season (Davis in1987–88, Hendry in both1989–90 and1995–96, and Williams in2002–03). Hendry is the only player to have accomplished this feat twice.
In1969, theWorld Snooker Championship became asingle elimination tournament, replacing the previous challenge format; this change marks the start of professional snooker's "modern era".[1] Six years later, a non-ranking invitational event, theMasters, was introduced; there were 10 competitors in theinaugural Masters in 1975, later increasing to 16 players.[2] WhenJohn Spencer won the 1975 Masters tournament, he became the first person to win two Triple Crown events, having won the world championships in1969 and1971.[3] The following year,Ray Reardon won both theMasters andWorld Championship in the same season.[4][5]
The Triple Crown events are sometimes referred to as the "big three BBC events", due to them having been broadcast by theBritish Broadcasting Corporation since inception.[13][14] They are also sometimes called "snooker's majors",[15][16] or the "big three" events.[17][18] However, some have questioned the status of the Triple Crown events, arguing that the World Championship is snooker's only major tournament.[19]John Higgins has described theTour Championship, first held in2019, as "far bigger than the UK [Championship]".[20]
Triple Crown events are considered the most prestigious snooker titles, and have historically offered the most prize money.[21][13][14] However, the total prize money for other events, such as theChina Open, has exceeded that of the UK Championship and Masters in recent years.[22][23] From the2020 Masters onward, players who have completed the Triple Crown are eligible to have a gold crown embroidered on their playing waistcoats in recognition of the achievement.[24]
In 2023,World Snooker Tour introduced a £147,000 bonus for any player making twomaximum breaks duringthe season's Triple Crown Series. The bonus could be awarded up to three times, for a total of £441,000, if three players each made two maximums. The same player could potentially win £441,000 by making six maximums in the events.[25]
In January 2024, World Snooker Tour introduced a new Triple Crown logo, as part of the new branding of the organisation.[26][27]
On winning the1999 Masters, Higgins held all three Triple Crown titles at the same time but his victories spanned two separate seasons.[citation needed] O'Sullivan came close to holding all three titles at once, making the final of all three events in 2014; he won the Masters and UK titles that year but not the World title, despite being the defending champion for the second successive year.[citation needed] Only O'Sullivan and Hendry have managed to successfully defend all three Triple Crown events.[citation needed] In 2013, Robertson became the first player from outside theUnited Kingdom to complete the career Triple Crown.[32]
Following his win in the2018 UK Championship, O'Sullivan surpassed Hendry's previous record of 18 Triple Crown titles,[33] and has now won 23. Trump is the latest player to have achieved a career Triple Crown, winning both the Masters and World Championship in the2018–19 season after having already won theUK Championship in 2011.[34][better source needed]
Of those still active on themain professional tour (as of 2025[update]), six players have won two of the three Triple Crown events, leaving them one away from completing a career Triple Crown.[28][29]Jimmy White,Matthew Stevens,Ding Junhui andMark Allen have all won the Masters and UK Championship at least once, but all four players need to win the World Championship to complete their Triple Crown. Of these, three have reached the final of the event, those being White (6 times), Stevens (2 times), and Ding (1 time); Allen has reached the semi-final twice.Stuart Bingham has a World title and a Masters title, but is yet to win the UK Championship for his career Triple Crown, having reached the semi-final three times.[28][29]Zhao Xintong has won the World and UK Championships, but has not won the Masters.[38]
Seven former professional players—Peter Ebdon,John Parrott, Ray Reardon, John Spencer,Dennis Taylor,Doug Mountjoy andCliff Thorburn—won two of the three Triple Crown events before their retirement.[28][29] Ebdon and Parrott both won UK and World titles, and Parrott reached the final of the Masters on three occasions between 1989 and 1992 but never won the title.[28][29] Reardon, Spencer, Taylor and Thorburn won the World Championship and Masters tournaments during their careers, but not the UK Championship.[29] Mountjoy came close to winning the World Championship in1981, only to lose to Steve Davis in the final.[29]
^Turner, Chris."The Masters".Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived fromthe original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved10 July 2012.
^Eric, Hayton (2004).The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. London: Rose Villa Publications. p. 11.ISBN0-9548549-0-X.
^abTurner, Chris."UK Championship".Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived fromthe original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved1 March 2011.
^Turner, Chris."The Masters".cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived fromthe original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved19 January 2011.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) †
Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Mark Williams (WAL) †
Neil Robertson (AUS) †
Alex Higgins (NIR)
