2007 was John Higgins' year as he claimed a second World Championship title at the Crucible.
Higgins and O'Sullivan on top form in 2007.
The year in pictures
2007 was John Higgins' year as he claimed a second World Championship title at the Crucible, which also saw him become the world number one in the rankings.
There was no dominant force on the snooker circuit with the major ranking event titles evenly shared out amongst a number of players, but Ronnie O'Sullivan did pick up three top prizes during the year.
2007 started and ended with big victories for O'Sullivan as he added the UK Championship to his Masters success in January, while 'The Rocket' also continued his domination of the Premier League.
Shaun Murphy finally added to his world title by winning in Malta while Neil Robertson made it two titles in one season with success in Wales and Marco Fu delivered the title he had promised for some time.
The Masters
Although not a ranking tournament, the Masters at Wembley is a huge event on the circuit, and Ronnie O'Sullivan ensured he had the perfect start to the year by claiming a third title.
O'Sullivan decisively defeated rising Chinese star Ding Junhui 10-3 in the final, with four centuries during the match to delight his home fans in London.
The Rocket was in great form during the week when beating Ali Carter, Ken Doherty and Stephen Maguire en route to his fourth consecutive Masters final.
Malta Cup
2005 world champion Shaun Murphy finally added a second title to his CV as he beat Ryan Day 9-4 to win the Malta Cup and prove he is now one of the top dogs in snooker.
Murphy had gone 22 months without a title since tasting Crucible glory, something which was beginning to become a burden until he produced a week of fine snooker on the island of Malta and move up to number five in the provisional world rankings at the time.
Welsh Open
Australian left-hander Neil Robertson became just the fourth non-British or Irish player to win more than one ranking title as he beat brave qualifier Andrew Higginson 9-8 in a thrilling Welsh Open final in Newport.
It was a second title of the season for the 'Melbourne Machine' as he denied Higginson a fairytale victory after a sensational week for the 500-1 outsider including a victory over John Higgins and a maximum 147 break in the quarter-finals.
China Open
Reigning world champion Graeme Dott warmed up for the defence of his title by claiming the China Open in Beijing in April.
The Scot beat Stoke's up-and-coming cueman Jamie Cope 9-5 in the final to make sure he headed to the Crucible on top form.
World Championship
John Higgins won a second Crucible title after surviving a superb comeback from the unheralded Mark Selby to win 18-13 in what was the latest ever finish to a World Championship final.
The Wizard of Wishaw was cruising at 12-4 overnight, but Leicester potter Selby, just the third qualifier to reach the final, produced some captivating snooker to get back to within one frame at 14-13 at one stage.
Higgins responded to the challenge though and four frames in a row saw him holding the trophy aloft for the second time in front of a weary-eyed crowd at 12.52am.
Fine
The month of May ended badly for Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was hit with a £20,000 fine by the WPBSA for walking out and forfeiting his UK Championship quarter-final match with Stephen Hendry the previous December.
Shanghai Masters
The new season kicked off with a new tournament in Shanghai and it was an all-Welsh affair in the final with Dominic Dale getting the better of Ryan Day.
Losing 6-2, Dale suddenly hit top gear and a 143 break sparked a run of eight straight frames to capture the title and £48,000 first prize courtesy of a 10-6 victory.
Grand Prix
Marco Fu won his maiden ranking title in Aberdeen, and he did it in style, coming from behind to earn a 9-6 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan.
The Hong Kong potter was in his first final for nine years but showed little nerves as he produced his very best to finally grab the title he had promised to win for so long.
Northern Ireland Trophy
Irishman Fergal O'Brien almost gave the fans a home victory in Belfast, but he was beaten in the final by Scotsman Stephen Maguire.
Former UK and European Open champion Maguire was in his fourth ranking final and recovered from an early 2-1 deficit to triumph 9-5.
Premier League
Ronnie O'Sullivan continued his domination of the Premier League with a fourth successive victory in December, beating world champion John Higgins 7-4 in the final in Aberdeen.
World champion Higgins pushed The Rocket all the way, but O'Sullivan again showed he is the man to beat in the Premier League as he walked away with the £50,000 first prize.
UK Championship
Ronnie O'Sullivan followed up his Premier League win by taking the second biggest ranking event with a clinical 10-2 victory over Stephen Maguire in the Telford final.
O'Sullivan played beautifully all week but struggled in his semi-final against Mark Selby as he trailed 4-1 and 6-3 before eventually the match went to a deciding frame - which O'Sullivan emphatically took with a sublime 147 to seal the match.
An eighth maximum clearance in competition not only showed the true quality of O'Sullivan, but saw him match Stephen Hendry's record and sign off the year in style.
