Stephen Hendry names his top 16 snooker players of last 50 years

Seven time world champion Stephen Hendry has picked out his top 16 from the last 50 years (Picture: Getty Images)

Stephen Hendry has named his top 16 snooker players of the last 50 years and it is sure to cause plenty of debate.

The seven-time world champion has named a top 16 for the Crucible era, which dates back to the 1976/77 season.

Some very big names miss out, including a string of former world champions, while three players who have never conquered the Crucible do make the cut.

Hendry has leant towards the modern player more, with the likes of Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn and John Spencer missing out.

Also getting the chop after being initially considered were the likes of Ken Doherty and John Parrott, despite winning the greatest prize in snooker.

Hendry, of course, had to put himself on the list, and obviously that came at the business end after his immense career.

Here are the 16 players Hendry considers the best of the last 50 years, as revealed on World Snooker Tour’s Snooker Club podcast.

2024 world champion Kyren Wilson made the cut (Picture: Getty Images)

15 = Kyren Wilson

World Championships: 1
Triple Crowns: 2
Ranking Titles: 10

15 = Mark Allen

World Championships: 0
Triple Crowns: 2
Ranking Titles: 12

14. Alex Higgins

World Championships: 2 (1 in Crucible era)
Triple Crowns: 5
Ranking Titles: 1 (world rankings began after some of Higgins’ titles)

13. Paul Hunter

Paul Hunter tragically died at just 27 years old (Picture: Getty Images)

World Championships: 0
Triple Crowns: 3
Ranking Titles: 3

12. Neil Robertson

World Championships: 1
Triple Crowns: 6
Ranking Titles: 26

11. Ding Junhui

World Championships: 0
Triple Crowns: 4
Ranking Titles: 15

10. Shaun Murphy

World Championships: 1
Triple Crowns: 4
Ranking Titles: 13

9. Zhao Xintong

Zhao Xintong won the world title in 2025 in style (Picture: Getty Images)

World Championships: 1
Triple Crowns: 2
Ranking Titles: 6

8. Jimmy White

World Championships: 0
Triple Crowns: 2
Ranking Titles: 10

7. Steve Davis

World Championships: 6
Triple Crowns: 15
Ranking Titles: 28

6. Judd Trump

World Championships: 1
Triple Crowns: 5
Ranking Titles: 31

5. Mark Selby

Mark Selby added another Triple Crown title to his collection last season (Picture: Getty Images)

World Championships: 4
Triple Crowns: 10
Ranking Titles: 25

3 = Mark Williams

World Championships: 3
Triple Crowns: 7
Ranking Titles: 27

3 = John Higgins

World Championships: 4
Triple Crowns: 9
Ranking Titles: 33

2. Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry gives Ronnie O’Sullivan the edge over himself (Picture: Getty Images)

World Championships: 7
Triple Crowns: 18
Ranking Titles: 36

1. Ronnie O’Sullivan

World Championships: 7
Triple Crowns: 23
Ranking Titles: 41

On his top two, Hendry said: ‘I’m tempted purely for argumentative purposes to put myself above Ronnie because the backlash would be huge.

‘He’s got to be above me for the fact that he’s won eight Masters and eight UK Championships. 17 maximums, 1,400 century breaks.’

Explaining how he came to his decisions over the whole list, Hendry said: ‘Obviously what they’ve won has got to come into it, how successful [they’ve been]. I think players I enjoy watching will have to come into it.

‘John Spencer and Ray Reardon I didn’t play against and didn’t really watch a lot of them actually playing, so I probably won’t include them for the simple reason I didn’t watch them play a lot.’

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