Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby: Time running out for 'big four' to turn season around

The Tour Championship at the end of this month is snooker’s most elite event, for just the eight best players of the season. You would have got long odds when the campaign began that the game’s recognised 'big four' would all be missing from the field in Hull, but with one counting tournament to go, that is now a realistic prospect. Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Judd Trump have established their dominance over snooker’s major events during the last decade.

Ad Of the last 16 World Championships dating back to 2007, only two have been won by someone else – Stuart Bingham in 2015 and Mark Williams in 2018. In addition, between them, the big four have won 26 of the last 35 ‘triple crown’ titles, encompassing the World and UK Championships and the Masters. Players ChampionshipO’Sullivan and Trump 'get the adulation' says Murphy as he declares he's 'back'28/02/2023 AT 09:16 But this season, only one has won a ranking title.

Selby prevailed at the English Open last December, otherwise, all four have largely underperformed in counting events, bearing in mind they have won 106 between them. The cut-off for the Tour Championship comes after the WST Classic – the replacement event for the cancelled Turkish Masters – next week. Selby is currently in eighth place on the one-year ranking list.

Trump is 12th and so will need to reach the final of the Classic. Robertson (20th) and O’Sullivan (21st) would each have to win it. So what has gone wrong for the 'big four'? Snooker has become an unpredictable sport in recent times, with more players than ever capable of producing title-winning performances.