In snooker, the World Championship, the British Championship and the Masters, because of their long history, high prize money and high reputation, are called the Triple Crown( snooker Three, and Chinese fans are also known as the Three Grand Slam Events. Winning any of these competitions is a career dream for many players. And collecting three major championships and completing a Grand Slam is the highest honor for snooker players.
Currently, a total of 11 players have completed Grand Slams, including: Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths, Alexei Higgins, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Sean Murphy and Judd Trump. Among them, Steve Davis, Hendry and Mark Williams are the only three players to win three major tournaments in a single season.
A player who now completes a Grand Slam can embroider a small crown on his vest. Of course, there are players who choose not to embroider, the most typical is O'Sullivan, who has collected 6 sets of Grand Slams.
Here's a brief take stock of the Grand Slam Glory Roll and take a look at the players' Grand Slam path. (Listed in chronological order in which players completed grand slams).
[No.1] Steve Davis (1957-)
1980 British Championships. It was Davis' first professional title, winning the final with hurricane Higgins. At that time, the British Championship was still an invitational tournament. The old Dai Ying won the championship 10 times and won the championship 6 times.
1981 World Championships. Davis beat Doug Mangjoy in the final to reach the top of the World Championships for the first time. Davis reached the final eight times at the World Championships and won the title six times.
1982 Masters. Davis beat Terry Griffiths in the final to crown the Masters for the first time. Lao Dai, within 14 months, quickly gathered grand slams. In the Masters, Lao Dai scored three finals to win all the championships.
[No.2] Terry Griffiths (1947-)
1979 World Championships. Griffiths competed in the World Championships for the first time, from the qualifiers to the final, where he defeated Dennis Taylor to win the championship. Griffiths reached the final again in 1988, losing to Davis.
1980 Masters. Griffiths defeated Hurricane Higgins in the final to win the title. Griffith reached the Masters final four times, but lost all three of the next three.
1982 British Championship. Griffith reached the final of the British Championship for the third and last time, with a narrow victory over Hurricane Higgins in the final decider.
On the Grand Slam Honor Roll, Griffith was the oldest person to collect a Grand Slam.
[No.3] Alex Higgins (1949-2010)
(I didn't find a picture of the 1972 World Championships, but a picture of a hurricane victory 10 years later [1982].) ）
At the 1972 World Championships, daisy appeared. The young Hurricane Higgins competed for the first time and won the World Championship. Hurricane Higgins' victory is of great significance to Snooker's development. Higgins reached the final four times at the World Championships and won the title twice.
1978 Masters. Hurricane Higgins beat Cliff Sorben in the final to win the title. He reached the finals for four consecutive years and won the title for the second time in 1981. Six years later, Higgins reached the final for the fifth time, losing to Taylor.
1983 British Championships. At the 1980 British Championships, Higgins lost to Davis in the final for the first time. From 1982 to 1984, the Hurricanes reached the finals for three consecutive years, losing to Griffiths in the 1982 decider; in the 1983 final with Davis, from 0-7 to the decider, the final was lucky to win; the next year, Dai succeeded in revenge.
Stephen Hendry (1969-)
1989 Masters. The green emperor appeared, and countless records will be rewritten. Hendry came up with five consecutive titles, a total of 9 finals and 6 titles.
(Pictured is the final of the 1990 British Championships, the opponent is still Lao Dai.) ）
1989 British Championships. Hendry picked out Davis in the final, and the time for a change of dynasty has come. At the British Championship, Hendry reached the final 10 times and won the championship 5 times.
1990 World Championships. Hendry and Whitera fought a bloody battle for the World Championships. Hendry's 7 crowns have not been shaken so far (9 finals).
Hendry collected Grand Slams in 15 months. In addition, Hendry twice completed a single-season Grand Slam (1989/1990 and 1995/1996), which was also an unparalleled achievement.
John Higgins (1975-)
1998 World Championships. 75 Sanjieqi brushed to advance to the semifinals, Higgins eliminated the Rockets in the final and met the defending champion Dahdi who eliminated Ma Wei, higgins won the championship with a powerful attack of 5 strokes to break the hundred, and replaced Hendry as the world number one. At the World Championships, the Wizards won the championship 4 times in the finals of the 8th.
1998 British Championships. After winning the World Championships, the wizard continued to soar and won the British Championship that year. At the British Championships, wizards won the championship 3 times in 5 finals.
1999 Masters. In 1995, The Green Onion Higgins reached the Masters final for the first time, but lost to the equally Green Onion Rockets. The final was a continuation of the previous year's World Championships, in which Higgins defeated Dahdi to win the title. In the Masters, Wizards 5 reached the final and won the championship twice.
Wizards gathered the Slams in the shortest time, taking only 9 and a half months (286 days).
Mark Williams (1975-)
1998 Masters. The final was a classic game, with Hendry leading 9-6 but Mavy dragged him all the way to the decider. Black War. While everyone was staring at the hard-nosed black bag, Hendry made a fatal mistake that would last a lifetime. In the Masters, the Golden Left Hand won the championship twice in 3 finals.
1999 British Championships. Poor Matthew Stevens, who was abused by wizards the previous time, was abused by Marvel this time. At the British Championship, The Golden Left Hand reached the final 4 times and won the championship twice.
2000 World Championships. Ma Wei became famous later than the other two buddies, but once it broke out, it was violent and terrifying. After winning the British Championship that season, Marvel continued to run wildly; in the World Championship final, poor Matthew was once again tortured to death by Marvel. At the World Championships, Ma Wei won the championship three times in four finals.
In 2003, when Marvel won the World Championship for the second time, he won three crowns in that season (02/03), becoming the third person in history to win a Grand Slam in a single season, and the other two brothers did not have this achievement.
[No.7] Ronnie O'Sullivan (1975-)
1993 British Championships. A unique genius appears. This childish little friend defeated the billiards emperor in the sky. After the game, the Rockets took the trophy to visit his father in prison. At the British Championship, the Rockets won the championship 7 times in the 8 finals.
1995 Masters. In the final, with a sunny face and two teenagers dueling, O'Sullivan easily defeated Higgins. In the Masters, the Rockets reached the finals 13 times and won the championship seven times.
2001 World Championships. In the 75 three masters, the Rockets won the three major championships much earlier than the other two brothers, but the collection of Grand Slams is the latest. After the Rockets defeated Higgins in the final in 2001, the World Championship winning mode was regularly opened. The Rockets reached the finals seven times and won the championship six times.
At present, the Rockets have collected 6 sets of Grand Slams, 20 crowns in three major competitions, and are at the top of the list.
[No.8] Neil Robertson (1982-)
2010 World Championships. The Australian Artillery final defeated Dortmund to crown the World Championships, laying a solid foundation for the Grand Slam journey.
2012 Masters. Robertson successfully blocked Murphy's Grand Slam dream in the final.
2013 British Championships. Selby failed to complete the blocking task, robertson successfully reached the top, becoming the first post-80s Grand Slam player.
Mark Selby (1983-)
At the 2008 Snooker Masters, Selby defeated Stephen Lee in the final to win three major competitions for the first time. Despite the limited number of Selby's early ranking titles, Selby's performance at the Masters was very impressive, including three consecutive finals in 2008-2010, winning two crowns. At the current Masters, The Master has won the championship 3 times in 5 finals.
2012 British Championships. Selby reached the final for the first time, beating Murphy to win the title and approaching a Grand Slam. In the British Championships, the Cypriot Masters won the championship twice in 3 finals.
2014 World Championships. At the 2007 World Championships, Selby reached the final for the first time as a dark horse, but lost to Higgins. In the 2013/14 season, all three major competitions of Selby reached the final, which was the first time among the post-80s players, but the first two matches were all in Asia, and the World Championship finally got its wish. In the World Championship final, Selby reproduced the true color of the reverse king, through a strong defense, and later came to the top, crushing the Rockets' dream of a three-game winning streak. At the World Championships, the Cypriot masters won the championship 4 times in 5 finals.
After the 80s, the number of champions in the three major competitions of Master Sai is far ahead.
Shaun Murphy (1982-)
At the 2005 World Championships, Murphy was ranked 43rd with odds of 150-1, but he reached the final. Murphy defeated Stevens in the final, becoming the only qualifier to win the World Championship since Griffith in 1979. Murphy is also the second youngest world champion at the World Championships after Hendry.
At the 2008 British Championship, Murphy narrowly defeated Fu Jiajun in the decider and won the championship, becoming the closest post-80s player to the Grand Slam at that time.
At the 2012 Masters, Murphy reached the final, but the dream of the first Grand Slam after the 80s was shattered by Robertson. Three years later, at the 2015 Masters, the final opponent was still Robertson. Robertson beat O'Sullivan in the semi-finals, but the final status was completely absent, and Murphy won a big victory, and finally collected a Grand Slam in 10 years.
Judd Trump (1989-)
2011 was Trump's outbreak season. At the 2011 China Open, Trump won his first title in the individual rankings, and then reached the final of the World Championships. In the final of the 2011 British Championship, Trump scored a 9-stroke 50+ victory over Mark Allen, winning the three major championships for the first time. But since then, Trump has long missed the three major championships.
In 2019, Trump ushered in the peak of his career. In the Masters final, Trump defeated O'Sullivan.
At the 2019 World Championships, the little chief executive was almost killed by Tychaia in the first round, and then reached the final smoothly. In the final, Higgins struggled to support the crisis, and Trump scored a 7-shot breaker, winning 18-9 and completing a grand slam.
postscript:
Since the advent of Grand Slam tournaments, there have been some great players in history who have not appeared on this honor roll. For example, in the 70s, the double Bilei Lilton and John Spencer, both of them lacked the British Championship champion, especially Spencer's record in the British Championship can only be described as extremely dismal, almost never won; of course, when the Masters and the British Championship appeared, both of them had passed the peak. Another master, not to mention, the tragic white whirlwind White. In addition, Paloth also regretted that all three Masters finals were destroyed by Hendry. Hendry was a little more merciful, and the first two were on the top two.
[The pictures in this article are varied, and I would like to express my deep apologies and thanks to the authors and copyright rights holders of the pictures.] 】