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Ronnie O'Sullivan - World ranking Number 1. The Chigwell man collected two titles this season. Firstly came the Northern Ireland Trophy at the Waterfront Hotel beating Dave Harold in the final. Just to prove he wan't finished there he also triumphed in the Masters at Wembley with a convincing victory over Mark Selby. A runner's up position in Shanghai when losing to Ricky Walden in the final helped cement his position at the top of the world rankings. Beaten though in the second round of the World Championships by an inspired Mark Allen means that his ranking for 2010/2011 has fallen to third spot
An outstanding player- sorry read genius, he has the added advantage of being ambidextrous. He was born in Wordsley, West Midlands on 5th December 1975. He has played snooker since the age of 7 and turned professional in 1992- and claimed his first professional title at the U.K Open in 1993 beating Stephen Hendry in the final. His first world title came in 2001 beating John Higgins, a second followed in 2004 beating Graeme Dott and in 2008 with a victory over Allister Carter.
Stephen Maguire - World ranking 2. The Glaswegian has had a disappointing season, failing to reach the semi finals in any of the ranking tournaments, culminating in a quarter finals defeat at the World Championships at the hands of Neil Robertson, has seen his ranking for 2010/2011 slip to sixth. Born on May 13th 1981 in Glasgow in he has played snooker professionally since 1998 of and collected his first professional in 2004 when he won the European Open beating Jimmy White in the final, that season he also lost a final frame shoot out in the British Open final to John Higgins, but went on to make his debut in the world chammpionships where he lost out to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Stephen continued his rise up the rankings in December 1994 when cruised to victory in the UK Open final with a 10-1 demolition job of David Gray
Shaun Murphy - World ranked number 3. The Irthlingborough based professional has enjoyed a solid season since capturing the UK Open crown in Telford when he defeated Marco Fu in a final frame decider. Prior to then he had struggled in the early stages of the season. Shaun, went on to finsh runner up to John Higgins at the World Championships at the Crucible. Murphy holds third spot in the provisional rankings. Shaun was born on 10th August 1982 in Harlow began playing snooker when he was eight years old, by the age of 10 he had already made a century break. He turned professional in 1997 a professional and in 2004 made the semi finals of the British Open, before confounding predictions when he came through qualifying in 2005 to lift the world championship beating Matthew Stevens in the final
John Higgins - The world number four is provisionally ranked number 1 for the 2010/2011 season. A strong season from the Wishaw man saw him capture the Grand Prix title in Glasgow, beating Ryan Day in the final, and was runner up in the China Open to Peter Ebdon, with his season climaxing in a third world title at the Crucible with a conclusive victory over Shaun Murphy.
Born on 18th May 1975 in Wishaw. He turned professional in 1991 after winning the junior event at the Mita World Masters. Three years later he won his first ranking title the 1994 Skoda Grand Prix at Derby beating Dave Harold in the final, and also picked up the British Open and the Intenational Open that year- becoming the first teenager to win three itles in one season. Yet he had to wait until 1998 for his first world title, which he gained beating Ken Doherty in the final. A second title followed in 2007 with a hard fought victory over Mark Selby in the final. Higgins is the best allround match player in the current game combining heavy scoring with a sharp tactical brain.
Allister Carter - The world number five from Tiptree has risen to number two in the provisional rankings. Has made the leap fro solid professional to tournament winner when he captured the Welsh Open in Newport beating Joe Swail in the final. Born in Colchester on the 25th July 1979 he turned professional in 1996 and began to make an impact on the sport in 2005 when he reached the semi finals of the 1999 Grand Prix, beating Stephen Hendry in the process. 2006 saw Ali affected with Crohn's Disease, but he bounced back in 2007 by reaching the semi finals of the Malta Cup, and thrashing Hendry at the Crucible in the second round before bowing out to - and then made the final in 2008, scoring a 147 maximum break against Peter Ebdon only to succumb to an unstoppable O'Sullivan.
Ryan Day - The world number six from Pontyycymmr is edging closer to the winner's circle after reaching the final of the Grand Prix losing to John Higgins. A disappointing run followed before Ryan re-discovered his form at the Crucible beating Stephen Lee and Nigel Bond before falling to Mark Allen in the quarter finals- which has seen him slip to seventh in the provisional rankings.
Born on 23rd March 1980 he turned professional in 1999 and in 2007 he moved into the top sixteen when he finshed runner up in the Malta Cup to Shaun Murphy and the Shanghai Masters to his countryman Dominic Dale
Mark Selby - The world number seven from Leicester has had a titleless season with a high point of being runner up to O'Sullivan at the Masters, before reaching the quarter finals of the World Championships losing a last frame decider to John Higgins. A brilliant long potter and heavy scorer, he has seen his provisional ranking slip to ninth.
Selby was born in 1983 on June 19th and reached his first ranking final in 2003 when he lost in the Scottish Open final to David Gray shocked the snooker world when he reached the world final in 2007 only to lose to Higgins. Born in
Selby turned professional in 1999 and aside from his snooker success he is also a former World eight ball pool champion- a title he claimed in 2006, beating Darren Appleton in the final. In 2008 he picked up the Welsh Open title- his first ranking success beating Ronnie O'Sullivan final- just weeks after winning the Masters at Wembley beating Stephen Lee in the final
Marco Fu - World number eight from Hong Kong. Fu came within a frame of claiming the UK Open title only to lose to Shaun Murphy- that combined with a solid season, reaching the latter stages of tournaments sees him provisionally ranked eighth. Fu announced his arrival on the snooker scene when in 1998 he reached the final of the Grand Prix beating Ronnie O'Sullivan and Peter Ebdon before losing the final to Stephen Lee. Born on 8th January 1978 first picked up a snooker cue when he was eight years old- but did not begin playing seriously until the age of 15 and his family had moved to Vancouver. In 1997 Marco won the World AMateur Championship and the World Under 21 titles before turning professional in 1998. Marco had to wait until 2007 for his first ranking title , when he won the Grand Prix in Aberdeen, beating O'Sullivan in the final. Marco has also won two Gold medals and a silver medal at the Asian Games for the team championship, and has two silver medals for doubles
Neil Robertson - World number nine from Melbourne, he is now provisionally ranked nukber five on the back of a victory in the Bahrain Championship beating Matthew Stevens in the final, throw in a semi final appearance at the Crucible and the Cambridge based professional who has combined a solid potting game with solid safety play. Born on 11th February 1982. In 2003 Neil won the World Under 21 title in New Zealand Robertson turned professional in 2005 and one year later was in his first ranking event fianl- the Grand Prix when he beat Jamie Cope to take the title, becoming the first Australian to win a ranking event . He had to wait only four months for his next world ranking event victory when he won the Welsh Open beating Andrew Higginson in the final in Newport.
Stephen Hendry - World ranked tenth- he holds the same provisional ranking. It has been a trying season for Stephen but a semi final appearance at Bahrain combined with two quarter final berths at Beijjing and Sheffield have seen him retain his top sixteen position.
Born in Dalgety Bay in January 1969 Hendry's breakbuilding prowess saw him turn professional in 1985 and broke through to win his first ranking title in 1988 when he won the Grand Prix in Reading, beating Dennis Taylor in the final. Two years later he won the first of seven world titles at the Crucible with victory over Jimmy White in the final
Mark Allen - World ranked eleventh, his run to the world championships semi finals included the defeat of reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, this combined with a semi final berth in Bahrain has seen Mark provisionally rise to tenth in the world. The man from Antrim town was born on the 22nd February 1986 Mark was a prodigious junior- aided by lottery funding he captured the Northern Ireland U14, U16 and U19 titles- and then won the European and IBSF titles. Turning professional in 2003, an immediate impact was made at the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2004 when as the receiver of a wild card he defeated Steve Davis and John Higgins to reach the quarter finals before losing to Stephen Hendry. That year he made the last 32 of the UK Open before losing to Shaun Murphy. The left hander, though is still looking for his first ranking title.
Joe Perry - World ranked twelfth. The 34 year old from Wisbech, Cambridge he has been a professional since 1991. Born on 13 August 1974 he has had three last sixteen berths this season. But he still has to break his duck with a victory in a world ranking event. Has reached one ranking tournament final in his career, in the 2001 European Open where he was runner up to Stephen Hendry. He had to wait another three years before making another ranking tournament semi final, and that was 2004 UK Open where he lost to David Gray. He was a semi finalist too in 2005, where he was eliminated by Ding Junhui. A semi finalist too in the 2008 world championships where he was finally eliminated by Allister Carter. Provisionally ranked 14th for the 2010/2011 season the man known as The Gentleman has also run courses toteach people how to play the game.
Ding Junhui - World ranked 13th. The Chinese star's best moments to date came in 2005 when he won the UK Open title beating Steve Davis in the final, and also picked up the China Open title. In 2006 he won the Northern Ireland Trophy. But he now faces a fight to hang on to his top sixteen status- a disappointing season has seen him slip down to twenty third provisionally. The high point of 2008-09 season came when he won the Jiang-su classic beating Mark Selby in the final- and made the last sixteen of the world championship where he lost to Stephen Hendry. Born on April 1st 1987 in Yixing- he is based in Sheffield. He first picked up a cue when he was nine when his father took him to a Chinese National Team training centre. Ding also won three gold medals at the Asian Games in Doha in 2006 where he won the singles, doubles and team gold.
Peter Ebdon - World ranked 14th. He saved his top sixteen status by winning the China Open- beating Stephen Hendry, Stuart Pettman and John Higgins in the final.- and that has given him a provisional ranking of 16th. Now based in Dubai Peter was born on 27 August 1970 in Kettering. Turning professional in 1991 he made an immediate impact at the World Championships in 1992 when he beat Steve Davis on his debut at the Crucible. His first ranking title was the 1993 Grand Prix when he beat Ken Doherty in the final, and then reached the world final in 1996 when he lost to Stephen Hendry. Peter had to wait until 2002 before finally clinching the world title with a 18-17 victory over Hendry, another appearance in the world final came in 2006 when he lost to Graeme Dott. The UK title followed later that year when he defeated Stephen Hendry in the final.
Mark Williams - World ranked 15th. A consistent season for Mark. Two quarter finals in the Shanghai Masters and the UK Open, and a last 32 slot at Sheffield, where he was beaten by Stephen Hendry have seen the return of the Welshman to the top sixteen - provisionally he is nineteeth. Born 21 March 1975 in Ebbw Vale the left hander turned professional in 1992. Four seasons later he won his first ranking title when he won the Welsh Open beating John Parrott in the final. The Welshman reached the world final in 1999 before losing to Stephen Hendry before finally sealing the world title in 2000- and also took the UK Open title that season, beating compatriot Matthew Stevens in both finals. A second world title arrived in 2003- backed up by the UK Open where he beat Ken Doherty in both finals- and also won the Masters at Wembley with a victory over Stephen Hendry.
Mark King - World ranked 16th the Romford man reached the second round of the World Championships at the Crucible beating Rory McLeod before losing to Stephen Maguire in the last sixteen. Three last sixteen places this season saw the Essex man hang on to his top sixteen status. However he is up to fifteenth in the provisional rankings. Born on the 28 March 1974 he turned professional in 1991. In 1997 he reached the final of the Welsh Open, losing to Stephen Hendry, and also reached the final of the Irish Open in 2004, losing to Peter Ebdon- that year he also reached the semi finals of the UK open, beating Mark Williams, Alan McManus and John Parrott before losing to eventual champion Stephen Maguire.
Barry Hawkins - World ranked 17th. One quarter final appearance at the Northern Ireland trophy where he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan was the high point of Barry's season, that ended early with a defeat at the hands of Daniel Wells in qualifying for the world championships, which combined with failing to qualify for events in China and Wales cost him a chance of top 16 place. Down to twentieth provisionally for the 2010/2011 season. Born on the 23 April 1979 in Kent the left hander turned professional in 1996. In 2005 he reached his first ranking semi final event, the Welsh Open. Later that year he reached the semi fianls of the Grand Prix
Jamie Cope - World ranked 18th. The high point of his season coming in the Shanghai masters came with a magnificent 147 break in his match against Mark Williams, which he ultimately lost. But a strong showing at the Crucible where he was on the verge of making the quarter finals. Victory over Joe Perry in the first round set up a intriguing battle against John Higgins. Cope was close to vitcory at 12-10 but the Scotsman fought back and squeezed past Cope 13-12. - And that missed opportunity has seen him drop to twenty fourth in the provisional rankings. Born on 12 September 1985 at Longton, Staffordshire. A professional since 2001 the man known as The Shotgun made the final of the Grand Prix in 2006 only to lose to Neil Robertson- and made a maximum 147 against Michael Holt. Cope also made the final of the China Open in 2007, losing to Graeme Dott.
Dave Harold - World number 19. The highlight of Dave's season came in the Northern Ireland Trophy where he lost to O'Sullivan in the final- Dave has been a professional since 1991. Born in December 9 1966, the Stoke on Trent man won the Asian Open in 1993 beating Darren Morgan in the final. A year later in 1994 he was a beaten finalist in the Grand Prix by John Higgins. But from that Dave had to wait 14 years to reach another final- and that was the Northern Ireland Trophy. Harold has appeared in one quarter final at The Crucible in 1996 where he lost to Nigel Bond. Ranked 17th provisionally for 2010/2011
Ricky Walden - World ranking of 20. The highlight of Ricky's season was the Shanghai Masters when he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan to take the title. He made the last eight in Beijjing before losing out to Stephen Hendry. Despite losing first round in Sheffield Ricky finds himself provisional ranking on 12 for the 2010/2011 season. Born in England on November 11 1982 he is based in Flintshire, Wales. Prior to his title breakthrough this year Ricky's best performance came in 2005/06 when he made the last sixteen in China, and in 2007 made the last sixteen of the Grand Prix
Stuart Bingham - World ranking of 21. It has been a disappointing season for Stuart who has lost four out of his eight round one matches in tournaments. He did however qualify for the Crucible- only to lose to defending champion Ronnie'O'Sullivan- and has seen his provisional ranking plummet to thirty second. Born in Basildon on 21 May 1976 Stuart won the 1996 world amateur championship and then turned professional. In 1999 Stuart reached the quarter finals of the Welsh Open beating John Higgins en route. Later that season he defeated reigning world champion Stephen Hendry at The Crucible in the first round. He has racked up quarter final appearances in the Grand Prix and the UK Open in 2005- and reached the same position in 2007 Northern Ireland trophy
Joe Swail - World ranking of 22. It was threatening to be something of a write off this season for Joe- until he reached the fianl of the Welsh Open, only to lose to Allister Carter in Newport. From there Swail qualified for Sheffield, but fell to a heavy defeat at the hands of Marco Fu. Born on 29 August 1969 the Belfast professional is a former English Amateur Champion who turned professional in 1991. Swail's best tournament performance prior to the Welsh Open came at the 2001 world championships where he made the semi finals only to lose to Matthew Stevens. He is provisionally ranked 28th for 2010/2011
Steve Davis - World ranking 23. Two quarter final appearances at Shanghai Masters and the Grand Prix, losing to Ricky Walden and John Higgins were the lynchpins of Steve's season, which has resulted in him rising to 13 in the provisional rankings. Born on 22 August 1957 in Plumstead Steve's first major came at the 1980 UK Open when he beat Alex Higgins to take the title- the world title followed in April 1981 with victory over Doug Mountjoy in the final. Steve went on to win five more world titles, and five more UK Open titles. In 2005 he made it to the 100th final of his career at the UK Open- only to lose to Ding Junhui. He still represents a stern challenge for any player, but relies heavily on his tactical nous and safety. His last major title was the Masters in 1997 when he recovered from 4-8 against Ronnie O'Sullivan to win 10-8
Michael Holt - World ranking 24. Two quarter final appearances in the Grand Prix and the Bahrain International before losing to Ding Junhui and Robert Milkins saw Michael rise in the rankings to a provisional ranking of eighteenth. Born on August 7 1978 the Nottigham man turned professional in 1996. A non ranking tournament victory came his way in 2006 at the German Open- and he contested the final the following year, and picked up the Dutch Open title in 2007- another non ranking event. His best showing at the world championship was in 2005 when he lost to Steve Davis in the second round 13-10 having led the six times champion 8-2. He has appeared in three ranking tournament quarter finals, the 1999 UK Championship, 2003 LG Cup and the 2005 Grand Prix
Stephen Lee - World ranked 25. A season that started promisingly with a last sixteen appearance in the Northern Ireland trophy before bowing out to Dave Harold petered out almost immediately, with his provisional ranking dropping to 25th. He did however qualify for the Wolrd Championships only to tumble out to Ryan Day in the first round. Born on 12 October 1974 Lee hails from Trowbridge, Wiltshire. He won the English Amateur Championship in 1992 and turned professional. His first ranking title came in 1998 at the LG Cup when he beat Marco Fu in the final - and regained the title in 2001 with a victory over Peter Ebdon. A year later the Scottish Open title came his way with victory over David Gray, but had to wait until 2006 for victory again, when it came in the Welsh Open, beating Shaun Murphy in the final
Matthew Stevens - World ranked 26. A runners up appearance in the Bahrain International where he lost to Neil Robertson promised much - but couldn't build on it. He failed to qualify for the Crucible losing to Martin Gould in qualifying- and that has seen his provisional ranking drop to 26th. Born on 11 September 1977 in Carmarthan he was runner up in Junior Pot Black before turning professional in 1994. In 1998 he made the final of the UK Open only to lose to John Higgins. In 1999 he won the Scottish Masters, beating John Higgins in the final- and the English equivalent at Wembley that season, beating Ken Doherty in the final. His only ranking tournament victory was in the 2003 UK Championship when he beat Stephen Hendry in the final. He twice made it to the final of the world championship. In 2000 he lost to compatriot Mark Williams, while in 2005 he was beaten narrowly by Shaun Murpohy- and just like the 2000 final he relinquished a four frame lead.
Liang Wenbo - World ranked 27. Liang's best showing this season was a last sixteen berth at the Northern Ireland Trophy where he lost to John Higgins. He also qualified for the World Championships at the Crucible- only to lose to compatriot Ding Junhui. Liang was born on March 5 1987 at Zhaodong, but is now based in Sheffield. Liang also made the second round of the World Championship in 2008 before losing to O'Sullivan. Turning professional in 2004 Liang won two medals at the 2006 Asian Games where he captured the silver medal in the individual event and a team gold. He is ranked 27th provisionally
Graeme Dott - World Ranked 28. Graeme has endured a dreadful season that was blighted through injury- though did reach the second round of the World Championships in Sheffield before bowing out to Mark Selby. That helped his provisional ranking rise to 22nd. Born in Larkhall on 12 May 1977 Graeme was UK under 19 champion in 1992 and Scottish Amateur Champion in 1993 before turning professional. In 2000 he reached the semi finals of the Grand Prix and the Scottish Open. In 2006 came the moment of his career when he captured the World Championship with a 18-14 victory over Peter Ebdon in the final. He also made the semi finals of the UK Open in 2006 before losing to Stephen Hendry.
Nigel Bond - World ranked 29. Nigel has had a poor season- but still made it to the second round of the World Championship where he beat Peter Ebdon before losing to Ryan Day- and that saw his provisional ranking sink to 42nd. Born in Darley Dale on 15 November 1965 he turned professional in 1989- after winning the English Amateur Championship and reached a ranking semi final in his first year on the professional tour at the BCE international - losing to Stephen Hendry.A year later he reached the fianl of the Grand Prix, only to lose again to Hendry. In 1995 he was the runner up to Hendry (again) at the World Championship. Still a ranking title eluded him- but that finally came in 1996 when he captured the British Open title beating John Higgins in the final. He won the non ranking titles the Malta Grand Prix in 1996 and the Scottish Masters in 1997. In 2006 Nigel defeated Stephen Hendry intthe first round of the World Championships and in 2007 made the last sixteen of the UK Open
Judd Trump - World ranked 30. Judd's best result this year came at the Grand Prix in Glasgow where he reached the semi finals, beating O'Sullivan in the process before losing to John Higgins in the semi finals- and also played in the first round of the Masters where he lost to Mark Allen. He failed to qualify for the World Championships losing in qualifying to Stephen Lee. Born on 21 August 1989 Bristol's Judd is a former English Under 13 and Under 15 champion and was a semi finalist at the World Under 21 championship when aged 14. In 2007 Judd qualified for the World Championships at the Crucible but lost his opening match to Shaun Murphy, but has seen his provsional ranking rise to 21st.
Fergal O'Brien - World ranked 31. Fergal's season has been terrible- failing to reach the last sixteen of any tournament- and not qualifying for the world championship- has seen him slip to 48th provsisonally. Born 8 March 1972 in Bayside, Dublin Fergal turned professional in 1991. But he had to wait until 1999 for ranking success when he won the British Open beating Anthony Hamilton in the final. Fergal came agonisingly close to winning the Masters title in 2001 before losing to the late Paul Hunter at Wembley. Six year later Fergal was back in another ranking tournament final when he made the final of the Northern Ireland trophy beating Higgins, O'Sullivan before losing to Stephen Maguire
Gerard Greene - World ranked 32. Gerard's season was unspectacular- but he did qualify for the world championships only to lose to Allister Carter in the opening round. He`too faces a fight to hang on to a top 32 ranking as he has slipped provsisonally to 34th. Born on 12 November 1973 in Kent. Representing Northern Ireland he lives in Rainham and has been a professional since 1993. In 1997 he reached the quarter finals of the UK Open to Ronnie O'Sullivan- and repeated that feat in 2004 reaching the last eight of the British Open. In 2007 he achieved his best result to date when he reached the semi fianls of the Grand Prix, losing to Marco Fu- and was a quarter finalist at the Northern Ireland Trophy before losing to Mark Allen.
Suzy Jardine