The World Snooker Tour produces annual awards in several categories, including player of the year.
The Association of Snooker Writers, founded by a group of journalists who wrote about snooker in 1981, first instituted awards for players and others associated with the game in 1983. From 1985, the awards were taken over by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. In 1998, the journalists' group was reformed as the Snooker Writers' Association, and the awards were in that body's name for several years. The awards are now administered by the World Snooker Tour.
List of awardees
+Snooker Writers' Association and WPBSA AwardsAwarding bodyYearPlayer of the YearPersonality of the YearYoung Player of the YearMatch of the YearOther awardsAssociation of Snooker Writers 1983 Steve Davis Bill Werbeniuk Tony Jones 1984 Steve Davis Dennis Taylor WPBSA 1985 Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor John Parrott 1986 Steve DavisJoe Johnson Joe Johnson Stephen Hendry 1987 Steve Davis Joe Johnson Stephen Hendry Jimmy White v Steve Davis (last frame of the 1987 Classic final)Overseas Player of the Year: Dene O'KaneHighest Break of the season: Jimmy WhiteBilliards player of the year: Norman Dagley 1988 Steve Davis Terry Griffiths Stephen Hendry Stephen Hendry v Jimmy White (last frame of the 1988 World Championship final)Break of the year: Steve Davis and Steve James (140)Overseas Player of the Year: Tony DragoBilliards player of the year: Norman Dagley 1989 Steve Davis Martin Clark John Parrott v Steve James Billiards player of the year: Mike Russell 1990 Stephen Hendry Nigel Bond 1991 Stephen Hendry Alan McManus 1992 Stephen Hendry Peter Ebdon 1993 Stephen Hendry Ronnie O'Sullivan 1994 Ronnie O'Sullivan Fergal O'Brien 1995 Stephen Hendry Tai Pichit 1996 Stephen Hendry Stephen Hendry Paul HunterBilliards player of the year: Mike Russell 1997 Stephen Hendry Steve DavisLee Walker Break of the year: Ronnie O'SullivanBilliards player of the year: Mike RussellSnooker Writers' Association 1998 John Higgins Paul Hunter Mark Williams v Stephen Hendry 1999 Stephen Hendry Marco Fu 2000 Mark Williams 2001 Ronnie O'Sullivan 2002 Stephen Lee WPBSA 2003 Mark Williams 2004 Ronnie O'Sullivan Stephen Maguire 2005 Ronnie O'Sullivan 2006 John Higgins 2007 Neil Robertson 2008 Ronnie O'Sullivan 2009 John Higgins 2010: no awards
+World Snooker Tour AwardsAwarding bodyYearWST Player of the YearSnooker Journalists' Player of the YearFans' Player of the YearRookie of the YearPerformance of the YearMagic Moment of the YearBreakthrough of the YearWorld Snooker Tour 2011 John Higgins John Higgins Judd Trump Jack Lisowski Judd Trump Rory McLeod 2012 Ronnie O'SullivanRonnie O'Sullivan Judd Trump Luca Brecel Stuart BinghamStephen Hendry 2013 Mark SelbyMark Selby Mark Selby Ian Burns Ronnie O'SullivanJimmy Robertson 2014 Ronnie O'SullivanDing Junhui Ronnie O'Sullivan John Astley Mark SelbyMark Selby 2015 Stuart BinghamStuart Bingham Judd Trump Oliver Lines Joe Perry Ronnie O'Sullivan 2016 John HigginsMark Selby Ronnie O'Sullivan Darryl Hill Mark SelbySteve Davis 2017 Mark SelbyMark Selby Mark Selby Yan Bingtao Anthony Hamilton Mark King 2018 Ronnie O'SullivanMark Williams Ronnie O'Sullivan Xu Si Mark WilliamsMichael Georgiou 2019 Judd TrumpJudd Trump Ronnie O'Sullivan Joe O'Connor James Cahill Ronnie O'Sullivan 2020 Judd TrumpJudd Trump Judd Trump Louis Heathcote Ronnie O'SullivanJohn Higgins 2021 Judd TrumpMark Selby Judd Trump Pang Junxu Mark SelbyNeil Robertson 2022 Neil RobertsonRonnie O'Sullivan Zhao Xintong Wu Yize Ronnie O'SullivanNeil Robertson 2023 Mark AllenMark Allen Mark Allen Julien Leclercq Luca Brecel Mark Selby Si Jiahui2024 Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronnie O'Sullivan He Guoqiang Kyren WilsonShaun Murphy Zhang Anda 2025Judd TrumpKyren WilsonJudd TrumpBai YuluZhao XintongJudd Trump Xiao Guodong 2026Zhao XintongZhao XintongWu YizeMichał SzubarczykRonnie O'SullivanJack Lisowski Chang Bingyu
Hall of Fame The World Snooker hall of fame was instituted in 2011, with eight winners of multiple world snooker championships as the initial inductees. + Hall of FameYearAwardee(s) 2011 Joe Davis, Fred Davis, John Pulman, Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Alex Higgins, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry 2012 Walter Donaldson, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan 2013 Terry Griffiths, Joe Johnson, Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson 2014 Dennis Taylor and Cliff Thorburn 2015 John Parrott and Mark Selby 2016 Stuart Bingham, Rex Williams and 2017 Jimmy White and Clive Everton 2018 Ding Junhui and Barry Hearn 2021 Judd Trump and 2022 Reanne Evans and Allison Fisher 2023 John Virgo 2024 Luca Brecel and Daniel Blunn 2025 Kyren Wilson 2026 Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen
Former awards
Services to snooker award + Services to Snooker AwardsYearAwardeeNotes 1983 Mike Watterson 1984 Clive Everton 1985 Del Simmonds Promoter and administrator 1986 Rex Williams 1987 Barry Hearn 1988 Howard Kruger Manager of several leading players 1990 John Spencer 1991 Eddie Charlton 1994 Ray Reardon 1996 Rick Waumsley BBC snooker coverage 1998 Jonathan Martin BBC Sport 1999 Jim ElkinsTournament director for the Masters 2000 David Vine; Len Ganley 2001 John Williams
Achievement of the year + Performance of the Year/Achievement of the Year awardsYearAwardeeNotes1987 Joe Johnson Reaching the World Snooker Championship final in two consecutive years1988Steve James Performance at the 1988 World Snooker Championship1995Stephen Hendry Seven century breaks in the 1995 World Snooker Championship final1996Nigel BondWinning British Open final after needing a snooker in the final frame1996 Mark WilliamsWinning the Welsh Open while ranked 39th1997 Ken Doherty Winning the 1997 World Snooker Championship1998 Mark Williams Recovering from 0–6 to win Masters final on re-spotted black1999 Stephen Hendry Winning a seventh World Snooker Championship2000 Joe Swail Reaching the 2000 World Snooker Championship semi-finals2001 Paul Hunter Winning the 2001 Masters final from 3–7 behind2002 Peter Ebdon Winning the 2002 World Snooker Championship2003 Ken Doherty Winning the 2003 World Snooker Championship semi-final against Paul Hunter2004 Jimmy White First ranking title for eleven years2005 Shaun Murphy Winning the 2005 World Snooker Championship2006 Graeme Dott Winning the 2006 World Snooker Championship2007 Andrew Higginson Reaching the 2007 Welsh Open final2008 Mark Selby Winning the Masters at his first attempt
Special awards + Special AwardsYearAwardeeNotes 1984 Mike Green Retiring secretary of the WPBSA 1987 Jackie Rea 40 years as a professional player 1988 Fred Davis Playing professionally at the age of 75 1989 Nick Hunter BBC snooker producer 1993 John Pulman Former world champion 1995 John Higgins Winner of three ranking titles in a season 1996 Ted Lowe BBC commentator, 50 years associated with snooker 1996 Peter Dyke Promoter, who recommended to Embassy that they should sponsor the World Championship 1997 Mark Wildman Services to English billiards 1998 Jimmy White Defeat of Stephen Hendry at the 1998 World Snooker Championship 2000 Steve Davis 20 years as a top-16 ranked player 2001 John Dee Snooker journalist 2004 Peter Dyke Promoter 2005 John Spencer Professional player, administrator and commentator 2006 Richard Balani Promoter of snooker events in Malta 2007 Clive Everton Journalist and commentator 2008 Barry Hearn 30 years as a tournament promoter and manager of snooker players
Notes
References
Sources
External links Who's in the Snooker Hall of Fame (2022) (World Snooker) Virgo Joins Snooker Hall of Fame (2023) (World Snooker)