2025 has been an unpredictable year on the snooker table, with a wide range of different tournament winners and neither Judd Trump nor Ronnie O’Sullivan among them.
From Shaun Murphy landing a second Masters title in January to Chris Wakelin winning the Scottish Open in December, it has been a busy 12 months on the baize.
We’ve seen an amateur crowned world champion, a 50-year-old become the oldest ranking event winner in history and the youngest ever professional join the tour.
New talents have emerged while legends live on and with a first Chinese world champ, 2025 could go down as a very significant year in the sport’s history.
Plenty of players have sparkled in the professional and amateur games over the last year and some fantastic cueists have missed out on this shortlist.
Here are the top 20 snooker players of 2025…
20. Chang Bingyu
A late entry into this list thanks to his brilliant run to the Scottish Open final. Chang Bingyu won the Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship in April to return to the professional tour after a ban and has raced up to number 62 in the world. Downing Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Mark Allen in Edinburgh was superb.
19. Joe O’Connor
Two finals in 2025 for Joe O’Connor at the World Open and Championship League, along with a couple of quarter-finals and a second Crucible trip. It’s been a very solid year for the 30-year-old who continues his steady climb up the ranks.
18. Stephen Maguire
He will tell you the opposite, but 2025 has been decent for Stephen Maguire in his bid to return to former glories. A Championship League win, Welsh Open final and International Championship semi. It’s not where he wants to be, but he looks closer to the player he was in his pomp.
17. Alfie Burden
Not even on the professional tour, but Alfie Burden has won the World Seniors Championship and Snooker Shoot Out this year. Having first turned pro in 1994, this is AB’s finest year in the game at 49 years old.
16. Ronnie O’Sullivan
We didn’t see much of the Rocket in the first half of 2025 but even as he struggled for form he made the semi-finals at the Crucible. This season has been quiet so far, but two 147s in a semi-final win in Saudi may go down as the highlight of the entire campaign.
15. Michal Szubarczyk
History was made in 2025 as Michal Szubarczyk became the youngest ever professional player at just 14 years old. He did so by reaching the final of the EBSA European Championship, having already won the Under-16 and Under-18 tournaments. Still yet to turn 15, he has picked up a string of wins on the main tour. Fantastic prospect.
14. Jack Lisowski
One of the moments of 2025 was Jack Lisowski finally winning a first ranking title when he beat Judd Trump in the Northern Ireland Open final. It’s otherwise been pretty quiet for Jackpot, but that triumph in Belfast was dripping in emotion, months after the death of his dad.
13. Chris Wakelin
Having never won a match at the Crucible before, Chris Wakelin brilliantly downed Neil Robertson and Mark Allen to make the quarter-finals. A semi-final at the Saudi Masters and finishing 2025 with the Scottish Open title. A year to remember.
12. Mark Allen
With just the English Open title added to his CV this year, it’s been a bit of a disappointing spell for Mark Allen, but only by his extremely high standards. Outside of that Brentwood triumph he has been to five semi-finals, including the Masters.
11. Xiao Guodong
The second half of last season was very consistent from Xiao Guodong, with a semi-final and three more quarter-finals. He impressively defended his Wuhan Open title this season and won the World Games, but has dropped off a bit since landing his second ranking title.
10. Bai Yulu
A dominant force in the women’s game, Bai Yulu won her second Women’s World Championship when she defended her title in May. She has added four more ranking titles since then, including the Women’s UK Championship. The 22-year-old set the record for the highest break made be a female player when she knocked in a 145 at the International Championship.
9. Wu Yize
After two finals in 2024, Wu Yize has made the step up to ranking title-winner in 2025, landing the International Championship by beating John Higgins. Now in the top 16 and among the elite at just 22 years old, he looks like he has a long and bright future after this breakout year.
8. Judd Trump
Judd Trump’s trophyless 2025 has been well documented, but it has not been a disastrous year at all. Still world number one, he has been to four finals this year, including the UK Championship, while he was superb at the World Championship before falling at the semis.
7. John Higgins
After a four-year drought, John Higgins won two ranking titles in 2025, ending his dry spell at the World Open in March. The following month he picked up one of his best ever wins, beating Mark Selby in a brilliant Tour Championship final. A Crucible quarter-final epic with Mark Williams and another final at the International Championship show the 50-year-old very much still has it.
6. Neil Robertson
Two huge titles picked up in 2025 makes it a great year for Neil Robertson, who thrashed Stuart Bingham 10-0 to win the World Grand Prix and edged Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9 to land the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. That £500,000 won in Jeddah launched him up to number three in the world rankings.
5. Kyren Wilson
Three big titles for the Warrior in 2025 as he won the German Masters, Players Championship and Shanghai Masters. Throw a Masters final in there and it has been an excellent year, but a first round exit at the Crucible as defending champion was a blow.
4. Mark Williams
At 50 years old Mark Williams reached the World Championship final, downing Wu Yize, Hossein Vafaei, Higgins and Trump to get there. He lost out to Zhao Xintong but has since become the oldest ever ranking event winner at the Xi’an Grand Prix. The Welsh Potting Machine shows no sign of slowing down.
3. Shaun Murphy
The year started with a bang for Shaun Murphy as he won the Masters and he has followed that up with a British Open title. A Xi’an Grand Prix final and UK Championship semi add to a consistently great year. He looked good at the Crucible and only lost out in a blockbuster second round draw to a firing Trump.
2. Zhao Xintong
Not on the professional tour last season due to a ban, he won the World Championship as an amateur in sensational fashion, blowing away his foes in Sheffield. He has not been great since then, with just one ranking semi-final this season, but did fire at the Riyadh Season Championship and won that invitational event.
1. Mark Selby
Four titles in 2025 for Mark Selby, ranging from the Championship League Invitational to the UK Championship. The Welsh Open and Champion of Champions were also claimed and he narrowly missed out at the Tour Championship. Other than Crucible disappointment it was a fantastic year for the Jester.
