Continuing the annual review on SnookerHQ.com, it’s time to reflect on the snooker Player of the Year for 2024.
Like any other, this year has been filled with memorable moments and incredible victories from a range of different players.
A few, though, stood out above the rest. Let’s take a look at the snooker Player of the Year contenders.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Recent events haven’t gone so well for Ronnie O’Sullivan, but there are 12 months in a year and some might forget that the Rocket launched it with a bang.
In fact, he ended January with two prestigious pieces of silverware already added to his staggering collection.
O’Sullivan first captured a record-extending eighth Masters title before quickly lifting the World Grand Prix trophy to boot.
The Englishman additionally won the World Masters of Snooker in Riyadh and reached the final of the Tour Championship – all by the start of April.
But he subsequently lost his world number one status after a shock quarter-final defeat to Stuart Bingham at the Crucible Theatre, and the 2024/25 campaign has so far been a struggle with only a few semi-final appearances to show for his efforts.
Kyren Wilson
By contrast, Kyren Wilson’s year began slowly before truly taking off at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
The Kettering cueist raised his level and took advantage of a somewhat kind draw to triumph at the sport’s blue-riband event for the first time.
The confidence of that success has spurred him on this season, with the 33 year-old securing another brace of ranking titles.
Wilson impressively beat Judd Trump in the finals of both the Xi’an Grand Prix and the Northern Ireland Open, helping him rise to a career-high of number two in the world rankings.
Judd Trump
Way out in the lead at the top of the world rankings list is Judd Trump, who is nearing the £2 million milestone for his rolling two-year tally of prize money in ranking events.
The 35 year-old has been consistently challenging for silverware for a number of years, and 2024 was no different.
Trump contested eight finals for the second successive year and he even improved on his record from 2023, this time around winning five and losing three.
Among those were victories at the UK Championship in York and at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters where he pocketed £500,000.
Trump also won the German Masters, the World Open, and the Shanghai Masters during a year in which he only once failed to reach at least the quarter-final of a tournament he participated in.
The Others
Several others competitors have enjoyed strong calendar years.
Mark Allen won the Players Championship, the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, and briefly became the sport’s world number one for the first time.
Mark Williams claimed a couple of notable titles, emerging triumphantly at both the Tour Championship and the Champion of Champions.
The Welshman also narrowly missed out on capturing the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, pipped to the post in a dramatic deciding-frame thriller by Judd Trump.
Arguably the most improved player on the circuit this year was 35 year-old Chinese cueist Xiao Guodong.
Xiao won his maiden ranking title at the Wuhan Open, made two more semi-final appearances in ranking events, and also contested the final of the Champion of Champions where he lost to Williams.
Verdict: 2024 snooker player of the year
There was a lot of good snooker played throughout 2024 and several players featured frequently at the business end of tournaments.
But only one player was a constant presence in the semi-finals and finals of events all the way from January to December.
He won the most titles with five, he ended the year as the world number one, and he accumulated by far the most prize money.
Anyone who seriously suggests that another player is more deserving of this accolade needs to give their head a wobble.
The Snooker Player of the Year for 2024 is Judd Trump.
Featured photo credit: WST
