Ding first Asian snooker No.1

Five major titles in 2014 earn Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui the honour of being the first Asian player to achieve the world No.1 ranking.

China's Ding Junhui on Thursday became the first Asian player to take the world number one snooker ranking after a record-setting season in which he won five major titles.

The 27-year-old from Yixing is only the 11th man to be world number one after Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and Judd Trump.

"Congratulations to Ding as the first Asian player to become world number one, it's a great achievement. The goal for him is out there now: can he win the World Championship and bring the crown back to China?," said World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.

"The fact is, he's not world number one by luck, he has got there on performance."

Ding, who has banked over STG2 million ($A3.6 million) in career prize money, won the Shanghai Masters, International Championship, German Masters, China Open and Indian Open in 2014.

However, he suffered a disappointing first-round exit from the world championship.