Dozens of prize money records set in 2017-18 snooker season

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Under the helm of chairman Barry Hearn, snooker is thriving in recent years with an increasing number of ranking matches, as well as a rise in the surging prize money.

According to the statistics from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), a total of 34 snooker players won over 100,000 pounds (about 133,465 US dollars) during the 2017-18 season, compared to 22 players in the previous season – a 54.5 percent rise within one year.

Altogether, professional snooker players have earned 13.31 million pounds this season, a 31 percent growth from last year.

Barry Hearn congratulates Mark Williams of Wales after he won the tournament during day seventeen of World Snooker Championship at Crucible Theatre on May 7, 2018 in Sheffield, England. / VCG Photo

Mark Williams, winner of 2018 World Snooker Championship, led the list with 898,776 pounds. The figure can be ranked the second in history, following Mark Selby's 933,428 pounds earned last season.

Ronnie O'Sullivan ranked second with 888,000 pounds, the highest season of his personal season – also the first time two players earned more than 800,000 pounds in a single season.

Next were John Higgins's 612,372 pounds and Mark Selby's 565,085 pounds. For the first time four different players exceeded 500,000 pounds in prize money in a single season.

Barry Hearn, Chairman of World Snooker at news conference on April 30, 2018 in Sheffield, England /VCG Photo

Earlier in May, Hearn said: "We have had a meteoric rise in prize money in the eight years since World Snooker was taken over. It started off at 3.5 million pounds and just five or six tournaments, this year it will be just shy of 14 million pounds.”

"Next year the prize money will increase to over 15 million pounds, and we are on our way to an achievable 20 million pounds prize fund within the next couple of years,” he added.