World Snooker Player of the Year
Allister Carter
Carter reached the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Trophy and Grand Prix before eventually lifting his first ranking title at the Welsh Open in Newport. He headed the one year-ranking list in early 2009 and goes into the new season ranked number 5.
John Higgins
John lifted his first major title on home soil when he won the Royal London Watches Grand Prix back in October. He reached the final of the China Open in Beijing to Peter Ebdon before returning to capture his third world title with an 18-9 win over Shaun Murphy in the final.
Shaun Murphy
Despite a horrible start to the season, Murphy showed his class by joining an elite group to have won both World and UK titles with a final frame win against Marco Fu at Telford. Runner-up at the World Championship and victory in the season-ending World Series of Snooker meant he ended the season on a high and enters next year ranked number three.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
An in-and-out season by Ronnie's standards, that still included three major tournament wins and finishing top of the world rankings. Victory in the Northern Ireland Trophy was followed by his ninth win in the Premier League. He regained the Masters title after beating Mark Selby in the final.
Other possible contenders include
Peter Ebdon for winning again in China
Neil Robertson for winning in Bahrain and reaching the semi-final in Sheffield
Ricky Walden for winning his first ranking tournament and climbing from 35 to 20 in the world.
