The form guide is constantly changing with so many tournaments on the calendar, but just who are the best snooker players in the world in 2023?<\/p>\n
While reputation must come into the equation a little, there is no greater way to measure a list like this than with deep runs in tournaments and by acquiring silverware itself.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no surprise, then, to see the top 10 positions primarily filled with proven winners from the recent period.<\/p>\n
Omissions that might surprise some include Neil Robertson \u2013 an all-time great who has struggled for form since the end of the 2021\/22 campaign \u2013 and immense talent Jack Lisowski.<\/p>\n
Kyren Wilson and Ali Carter are other regular members of the top 10 in the world rankings who have just missed out here.<\/p>\n
RadioTimes.com<\/a> ranks the 10 best snooker players in the world right now.<\/p>\n For most of his career, Zhang Anda was considered a journeyman. On and off the main tour for years, he finally broke into the top 64 of the world rankings for the first time in 2023. It spurred him on, and the Chinese competitor duly reached the English Open final, where he lost to Judd Trump. A month later, a composed Zhang went one better by romping to glory at the International Championship \u2013 continuing his meteoric rise and into the world\u2019s top 16.<\/p>\n It\u2019s fair to say that John Higgins isn\u2019t reaching the dizzying heights of his heyday, and other than in the Championship League, titles have been hard to come by. However, several strong performances have been thwarted by inspired opponents, with the Scot recently on the wrong end of many tight scorelines. Higgins has been written off so many times in his career, but the four-time world champion is still in there punching.<\/p>\n Barry Hawkins has been a consistent member of the higher ranks during the second half of his career, so it was a shock to many when he dropped out of the top 16 and failed to qualify for the 2023 World Championship. Yet the Hawk bounced back immediately by securing a long overdue fourth career ranking title with victory in the 2023 European Masters, and he has rediscovered his trademark consistency since.<\/p>\n Mark Williams began the calendar year of 2023 by reaching the final of the Masters, where he was beaten in agonising fashion by Judd Trump. The Welshman felt his last opportunity at major silverware had slipped away. But about nine months later, Williams became the oldest player since countryman Ray Reardon to win a ranking title \u2013 claiming the 2023 British Open at the age of 48. He remains one of the easiest players to watch when in full flow.<\/p>\n Despite making a memorable 147 break, Mark Selby will have been disappointed to end up on the losing side of an enthralling World Championship final in 2023. The WST Classic champion fell just short of claiming a fifth Crucible crown in 10 years, but his run in Sheffield once again underlined his ability to produce his very best at the major tournaments.<\/p> There was a spell during the first half of 2023 when Shaun Murphy was arguably at the top of any list featuring the best snooker players in the world. After reaching the Welsh Open final, the Magician orchestrated back-to-back triumphs in the lucrative Players and Tour Championships, where he produced possibly his finest ever snooker. Another victory at the Championship League saw him begin the 2023\/24 term in strong fashion as well.<\/p>\n Has there been a more memorable run at the Crucible Theatre in recent years? Luca Brecel cut an inspired figure as he emerged from five dramatic encounters in Sheffield to seal a maiden world title in 2023. The Belgian Bullet continues to struggle with inconsistency overall, but he is widely regarded as being one of the most naturally talented cueists in the game. An exhilarating player to watch when at his best, more major silverware will surely come.<\/p>\n Mark Allen was voted as the player of the 2022\/23 snooker season, and rightly so. The Pistol fired his way to glory in three ranking events during that spell, before reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship. Threatening to become world number one for the first time in his career, Allen had a quiet start to the 2023\/24 campaign before reaching the final of the invitational Champion of Champions, where he thrashed Judd Trump 10-3.<\/p>\n There are players who have secured more trophies than Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan of late. But the Rocket continues to be the first name most people look out for in the draw. O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s form in 2023 was patchy and he didn\u2019t play in a lot of tournaments, but his reputation as the best snooker player of all time still intimidates opponents. Success in the prestigious 2023 Shanghai Masters proved he will continue to mix it with the very elite when he\u2019s fully focussed.<\/p>\n After dominating the sport between 2019 and 2021, Judd Trump suffered from a relatively quiet spell by his own high standards. That was until the 2023 Masters, which he duly won to secure a fourth Triple Crown title. An outstanding run of form towards the end of the year then saw Trump capture a hat-trick of successive ranking titles \u2013 an accomplishment only achieved by four players previously. When he gets on a roll, there are few who can stop the Juddernaut.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide<\/a> or\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/b><\/a>, or visit our Sport<\/a> hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013 <\/b>subscribe now<\/b><\/a> and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to <\/b>The Radio Times Podcast<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Our expert round-up of the 10 best snooker players in the world in 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40149,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-scaled.jpg",2560,1705,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/11\/best-snooker-players-in-the-world-2023-2048x1364.jpg",2048,1364,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our expert round-up of the 10 best snooker players in the world in 2023.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}10. Zhang Anda<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Zhang](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/11\/Zhang-Anda-b3b29de.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"2023")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>9. John Higgins<\/strong><\/h3>\n
8. Barry Hawkins<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Mark Williams<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Mark Selby<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Shaun Murphy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Luca Brecel<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Mark Allen<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Ronnie](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/11\/Ronnie-OSullivan-e125e67.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"2023")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>1. Judd Trump<\/strong><\/h3>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"