Snooker

**Snooker** (pronountit , ) is a cue sport tha originatit amang Breetish Armie officers stationed in Indie in the seicont hauf o the 19t yearhunner. It is played on a rectangular table kivvert wi a green cloth (or "baize"), wi pockets at ilka the fower corners an in the middle o ilka lang side. Uisin a cutstick an 21 coloured baws, players hiv tae strike the white baw (or "cue baw") tae pot or pocket the remainin baws in the correct sequence, accumulatin pynts fur ivery pot. An individual gemme (or frame), is won bi the player scorin the maist pynts. A match is won whan a player wins a predetermined batch o frames.

Snooker came tae its ain in 1884 whan armie officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, stationed in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, devised a set o rules that combined pyramid an black puil. The wird *snooker* wis a lang-uised military term fur inexperienced or first-year personnel. The gemme grew in popularity in the Breetish Isles, an the Billiars Associe an Control Club wis formed in 1919. It is nou governed bi the  Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association (WPBSA) (Scots: *Walrd Perfaisional Billiars an Snooker Associe*).

The Warld Snooker Championship haes taken place frae 1927. , a key feegur in the early growth o the sport, won the championship 15 straicht times frae 1927 tae 1946. The "modren era" stairtit in 1969 efter the broadcaster BBC commeessioned the snooker telly progrmame *Pot Black* an later stairtit tae air the Warld Championship in 1978. Key figures in the gemm war Ray Reardon in the 1970s, Steve Davis in the 1980s, an Stephen Hendry in the 1990s, ilka winnin sax or mair Warld championship. Syne 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan haes won the maist warld titles, wi five. Top professional players nou compete regular aroond the warld an earn millions o pounds on the Warld Snooker Tour, thit featurs players frae across the warld.

## History

The origin o snooker dates back tae the latter hauf o the 19t yearhunner. In the 1870s, Inglis billiards wis a popular activity amang Breetish Army officers stationed in Indie, an several variations o the gemm war devised durin this time. Ae variation that originatit a the officers' mess o the 11t Devonshire Regiment in 1875 combined the rules o twa pocket billiards games: Pyramid an Black Puil. The umwhile wis played wi 15 reid coloured baws poseetioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the pottin o designatit baws. The gemm wis developit in 1884 whan its first set o rules wis finalised bi Sir Neville Chamberlain, an Inglis armie officer thit gied a haun tae develop an popularise the gemme at Stone House in Ooty on a table biggit bi Burroughes & Watts that wis brocht ower bi boat.

The wird *snooker* wis a slang term fur first-year cadets an inexperienced military personnel, but Chamberlain wad eften uise it fur the performance o ane o his fellae officers a the table. In 1887, snooker wis gien its first definit reference in Ingland in a copy o *Sporting Life* thit caused a growth in popularity. Chamberlain came oot as the gemm's inventor in a letter tae *The Field* published on 19 Mairch 1938, 63 years efter the fact.

Snooker grew in popularity oothrou the Indian colonies an the Breetish Isles, but it remained a gemm maistly fur the gentry, an mony gentlemen's clubs that haed a billiards table wadnae allou non-members inside tae play. Tae accommodate the growin interest, smawer an mair open snooker-specific clubs war formed. In 1919, the Billiards Association an the Billiards Control Buird merged tae form the Billiards Association an Control Club (BA&CC) an a new, staundart set o rules fur snooker first became offeecial.

In 1927 the first Warld Snooker Championship wis organised bi Joe Davis. Davis, a professional Inglis billiards an snooker player, muived the gemme frae a pastime tae a Perfaisional acteevity. Davis won ivery warld championship until 1946, whan he retired frae the championships. The gemm went in a decline throu the 1950s an 1960s wi little interest generatit ootside o thae thit war awready playin. In 1959, Davis introduced a variation o the gemme kent as "Snooker Plus" tae try tae impruive the gemm's popularity bi addin twa extra colours, but this failed tae gain interest.
In 1969, David Attenborough commissioned the snooker telly series *Pot Black* tae demonstrate the potential o colour telly, wi the green table an multi-coloured baws bein ideal fur showin off the advantages o colour broadcastin. The series became a ratings success an wis fur a time the second-maist popular programme on BBC Twa. Interest in the gemm increased an the 1978 Warld Snooker Championship wis the first tae be fully televised. The gemme quickly became a mainstream gemme in the Unitit Kinrick, Ireland an much o the Commonwealth, an haes enjoyed much success frae the late 1970s, wi maist o the rankin toornaments bein televised. Bi the 1985 Warld Snooker Championship a tot o 18.5 million viewer watched the 1985 Warld Snooker Championship atweesh Dennis Taylor an Steve Davis, a record viewership fur the Unitit Kinrick fur ony broadcast efter midnicht. In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertisin led tae a decrease in the nummer o professional tournaments, wi professional toornaments bein cut tae anly 15 events in 2003, frae 22 in 1999. Hounaiver, the popularity o the gemme in Asia, wi emergin talents sic as Liang Wenbo an mair established players sic as Ding Junhui an Marco Fu, boosted the sport i the Far East. Bi 2007, the BBC dedicatit 400 oor tae snooker kivverage, compared tae juist 14 meenit 40 year earlier.

In 2010, promoter Barry Hearn gained a controllin interest in Warld Snooker Ltd. an the Warld Snooker Tour, pledgin tae revitalise the "moribund" professional gemm. Syne this time, the nummer o Perfaisional tournaments haes gaun up, wi 44 events i the 2019/20 season. Events hae been made tae be mair suitable fur telly broadcasts an aw, sic a the Snooker Shoot-Out, a timed, ane- toornament. Prize money fur Perfaisional events haes increased an aw, wi tap players makin several million pounds durin thair careers. The winner o the 2020 Warld Snooker Championship will receive £500,000 out o a tot fund o £2,395,000.

## Rules
### Objective

The objective o the gemme is tae score mair pynts than the opponent bi pottin baws in the correct order. At the stairt o a frame, the baws are poseetioned as shawn in Feegur A, an the players then tak turns hittin shots bi strikin the "cue baw" wi the cue stick, thair aim bein tae pot ae o the reid baws (or "red") intae a pocket an tharebi score a pynt. Failure tae mak contact wi the reid constitutes a fowl shot. Gin the striker pots a reid, thay maun than pot ane o the sax "colours". Gin the player pots a colour, the vailyie o that baw is addit on tae the player's score, an the baw is broucht back tae its stairtin poseetion on the table. Efter that, the player haes tae pot anither reid, than anither colour, in sequence. This process continues until the striker fails tae pot the desired baw, at that pynt the opponen comes tae the table tae play the nixt shot. The act o scorin sequentially in this manner is tae mak a brak (see scorin ablo).

The gemme continues in this manner til aw reids is pottit an anly the sax colours is left on the table. At this pynt the colours must be pottit in the order frae least tae maist vailyiable baw, as per the table tae the richt. The shots are: yellae (twa pynt), green (three pynt), broun (fower pynt), blue (five pynt), pink (sax pynt) an black (seiven pynt), the baws nae bein returned tae play. Whan the final baw is pottit, the player wi mair pynts wins. Gin the scores is equal whan aw the baws hae been pottit, the black is placed back on its spot as a tiebreaker. In this seetiation, cawed the re-spotted black, the black baw is pit on its designatit spot an the cue baw is played as baw in haund. The referee than tosses a coin an the winner decides whit player g's first. The frame continues until ae o the players pots the black baw or commits a foul. A player mey concede a frame while on strike an aw gin they think thare arenae eneuch pynts available on the table tae beat the opponent's score. In Perfaisional snooker this i a common occurrence.
Perfaisional an competitive amateur matches are offeeciatit bi a referee. The referee replaces the colours on the table whan necessar an caws oot hou mony pynts the player haes scored durin a brak an aw. Perfaisional players uisually plays the gemme in a sportin manner, declarin fouls at thay hae committed but the referee haes missed, acknowledgin guid shots frae thair opponent, an haudin up a haund fur tae apologise fur fortunate shots, kent as "flukes".

### Scorin
Pynts in snooker is gained frae pottin the correct baws in sequence. The tot nummer o consecutive pynts (no coontin fouls) that a player amasses durin ae veesit tae the table is kent as a brak. A player attainin a brak o 15, fur exemple, coud hae raxed it bi pottin a reid than a black, than a reid than a pink, afore failin tae pot the nixt reid. A maximum brak in snooker is achieved bi pottin aw reids wi blacks than aw colours, yieldin 147 pynts; this is aften kent as a "147" or juist as a "maximum".

Pynts mey be scored in a gemm whan a player's opponent fouls an aw. A foul can occur fur various reasons, maist commonly fur failin tae hit the correct baw (e.g. hittin a colour first whan the player wis attemptin tae hit a reid), or fur sendin the cue baw in a pocket. The umwhile mey occur whan the player fails tae escape frae a "snooker" – a seetiation in that the previous player lea's the cue baw poseetioned sic that no legal baw can be struck direct wioot obstruction bi an illegal baw. Pynts gained frae a foul vary frae a minimum o fower tae a maximum o seiven gin the black baw is involved.

A foul shot thit lea's nae valid shot fur the opponent can lea' thaim wi a "free baw". A free baw allous a player tae uise ony ither coloured baw in place o the shot thay war meant tae play. Daein that wi aw 15 reid bals in play can result in a brak exceedin a maximum, wi the heichest possible bein a 155 break, achieved via the opponent leavin a free baw, wi the black bein pottit as the additional colour, an then pottin aw 15 reids an blacks wi the colours. Jamie Cope haes the distinction o bein the first player in snooker history tae post a verified 155 brak, achieved in a practice frame in 2005, wi ither players sic as  claimin tae hae made a seemilar brak an aw.

Ae gemm, frae the baws in thair startin poseetion until the last baw i pottit, is cried a "frame". A match generally consists o a predetermined nummer o frames an the player thit wins the maist frames wins the match. Maist Perfaisional matches are needin a player tae win five frames, an are cried "best-o-nine" in reference tae the maximum possible nummer o frames. Tournament finals are uisually best-o-17 or best-o-19, while the warld championship uses langer matches – rangin frae best-o-19 in the qualifiers an the first roond up tae best-o-35 fur the final (first tae 18), an is played ower fower sessions o play haud ower twa day.

## Governance an tournaments
The Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association (WPBSA, kent as Warld Snooker forby), foontit in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association, in the governin body for the Perfaisional compitition. The amateur gemm (includin youth compitition) is governed bi the Internaitional Billiards an Snooker Federation (IBSF). Events haud specifically for weemen an events fur seniors are haunled bi warld Snooker unner warld Women's Snooker an the warld Seniors Tour, respectively.

### Tournaments
#### Perfaisional
Perfaisional snooker players play on the Warld Snooker Tour. Events on the Tour are anely appen tae players on the Tour an selectit amateur players, but maist events are needin qualification. Players can qualify fur the Tour aither bi bein heich eneuch on the warld rankins frae prior seasons, winnin continental championships, or throu the Challenge Tour or Q Schuil events. Players on the Tour generally gain twa-year participation fur the events.

The Tour haes an offeecial warld rankins scheme an aw, wi anly players on the Tour receivin a rankin. , earned bi players throu thair performances ower the previous twa seasons, determine the current warld rankins. A player's rankin determines what level o qualification he or she requires fur specific toornaments. The elite o professional snooker are generally regartit as the "top-16" rankin players. Thay are nae required tae pre-qualify fur some o the toornaments, sic as the Shanghai Masters, the Masters an the Warld Snooker Championship. Certaint ither events, sic as thae in the Coral Cup series, uise the ane-year rankin leet tae qualify; thir uise the results o the current season tae denote participants. Currently, the Tour contains 125 players, wi players aither in the tap-64 on the offeecial rankin leet, or finishin as ane o the tap aicht prize money earners durin the maist recent season, guaranteed a tour place fur the next season, this bein assessed efter the Warld Championship.

The auldest professional snooker toornament is the Warld Championship, held annually syne 1927 (except durin Warld War II an atween 1958 an 1963). The toornament haes been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, syne 1977, an wis sponsored bi Embassy frae 1976 tae 2005. Syne the ban on advertisin tobacco products, the championships hae been sponsored bi bettin companies.

The Warld Championship i the maist heichly valued prize in professional snooker i terms o financial reward (£500,000 fur the winner, formerly £300,000), rankin pynts an prestige. It is televised extensively in the UK bi the BBC an gains significant coverage in Europe on Eurosport an in East Asia on CCTV-5. The Warld Championships is pairt o the Triple Crown alang wi the UK Championship an the non-rankin Masters. Thir events are valued bi some players as the maist prestigious, an are some o the auldest competitions an aw. Winnin all three events is a difficult task, an haes anly been done bi 11 players.

Wi some events havin been criticised fur matches takin too lang, an alternative series o timed toornaments haes been organised bi  chairman . The shot-timed  wis established, wi seiven players invitit tae compete at regular United Kingdom venues, televised on Sky Sports. Players haed twinty-five seconds tae tak each shot, wi five time-outs per player per match. While some success wis achieved wi this format, it generally dinna receive the same amount o press attention or status as the regular rankin toornaments. This event haes been taken oot o the tour syne 2013, whan the  wis established. The Champion o Champions sea players qualify bi virtue o winnin ither events in the season, wi 16 champions competin.

In 2015, the Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association submitted an unsuccessful bid fur snooker tae be played at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Anither bid haes been put forrit fur 2024 Summer Olympics throu the Warld Snooker Federation, foondit in 2017. A trial fur the format fur cue sports tae be played at the 2024 games wis put forrit at the , featurin nine-baw an carom billiards an aw. Snooker haes been contested at the Warld Games syne 2001, an wis included as an event at the 2019 Africaen Games.

### Criticisms
Several players, sic as Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Allen an , hae warned that thare are too mony toornaments durin the season, an that players risk burnin out. In 2012, O'Sullivan played fewer toornaments in order tae spend mair time wi his childer, an ended the 2012–13 season ranked 19t in the warld. Furthermore, he dinna play ony toornament in 2013 except the Warld Championship, which he won. O'Sullivan haes suggestit that a "breakaway tour" wi fewer events wad be beneficial tae the sport, but as o 2019 no sic tour haes been organised.

Some leagues hae allowed clubs tae refuse tae accept women players in toornaments. League committee leadership defended the practice, saying, "If we lose two o these clubs [wi the men-only policies] we would lose four teams an we can't afford to lose four teams otherwise we would hae no league." A Warld Women's Snooker spokesperson said, "It is disappointin an unacceptable that in 2019 that players such as  hae been the victim o antiquated discriminatory practices." The All-Party Parliamentary Group said, "The group believes that bein prevented frae playin in a club because o gender is archaic."

## Equipment

The Accessories uised fur snooker include chalk fur the tip o the cue, rests o various sorts uised fur playin shots that canna be played bi haund, a triangle tae rack the reds, an a scoreboard. Ane drawback o snooker on a full-size () table i the size o the room (), which i the minimum required fur comfortable cuein room on all sides. This leemits the nummer o locations in which the gemme can easy be played. While puil tables are common tae mony pubs, snooker tends tae be played aither in private surroundins or in public snooker halls. The gemme can be played on smawer tables usin fewer reid baws an aw. Variant table sizes include , , ,  (the smallest fur realistic play) an . Smawer tables can come in a variety o styles, sic as fold-away or dining-table convertible.

A traditional snooker scoreboard resembles an abacus an records the score fur each frame in units an twenties an the frame scores. Thay are teepically attached tae a wall bi the snooker table. A semple scorin bead is whiles uised an aw, cried a "scorin string", or "scorin wire". Each bead (segment o the string) represents a single pynt. Snooker players teepically muive ane or several beads wi thair cue.

The playin surface, 356.9&nbsp;cm (11&nbsp;feet 8.5&nbsp;inches) bi 177.8&nbsp;cm (5&nbsp;feet 10&nbsp;inches) fur a staundart full-size table, wi sax pocket holes, ane at each corner an ane at the centre o each o the langer side cushions. The fully oo cloth is uisually green, wi a directional nap runnin frae the baulk end o the table towards the end wi the black baw spot. The cloth is eften cried "baize"; awtho true baize is a lawer quality cloth whiles uised on puil tables. The nap will affect the direction o the cue baw dependin on which direction the cue baw is shot an on whether left or right side (spin) is placed on the baw. Even if the cue baw is hit in exactly the same wey, the nap will cause a different effect dependin on whether the baw is hit doun table (towards the black baw spot) or up table (towards the baulk line). The cloth on a snooker table i nae vacuumed, as this can destroy the nap. The cloth is brushed in a straucht line frae the baulk end tae the far end wi multiple brush strokes that are straucht in direction (i.e. nae across the table). Some table men will then drag a dampened cloth wrapped aroond a short piece o buird (lik a twa bi fower), or straucht back o a brush tae collect ony remainin fine dust an help lay the nap doun. The table is then ironed. Strachan cloth, uised in offeecial snooker toornaments, i 100% oo. Some ither cloths include a smaw percentage o nylon.

## Notable players

In the professional era that began wi Joe Davis i the 1930s an continues until the present day, a relatively smaw nummer o players hae succeeded at the tap level. Joe Davis wis warld champion fur twinty years, retirin unbeaten efter claimin his fifteenth warld title in 1946 whan the toornament wis reinstated efter the Second Warld War. Davis wis unbeaten in Warld Championship play, an wis anly ever beaten fower times in his entire life, wi all fower defeats comin efter his Warld Championship retirement an inflicted bi his ain brither . He did lose matches in handicapped toornaments, but on level terms thir fower defeats war the anly losses o his entire career. He wis warld billiards champion an aw. It is regarded as heichly unlikely that anyone will ever dominate the gemme tae this level again.

Efter Davis retired frae Warld Championship play, the next dominant force wis his younger brither Fred Davis, who haed lost the  final tae Joe. Bi 1947, Fred Davis wis deemed ready bi his brither tae tak ower the mantle, but lost the warld final tae the Scotsman Walter Donaldson. Davis an Donaldson wud contest the next fower finals. Efter the abandonment o the Warld Championship in 1953, wi the 1952 final boycotted bi Breetish professionals, the Warld Professional Match-play Championship became the unofficial warld championship. Fred Davis won the event every year until its penultimate ane, in 1957, which he dinna enter.

John Pulman wis the maist successfu player o the 1960s, whan the warld championship wis contested on a challenge basis. Houiver, whan the toornament reverted tae a knockout formula in 1969, he dinna prosper. Ray Reardon became the dominant force in the 1970s, winnin sax titles (1970, 1973–1976 an 1978), wi John Spencer winnin three.

Steve Davis' first warld title in 1981 made him anly the 11t warld champion syne 1927, includin the winner o the boycotted 1952 title, Horace Lindrum. Davis wad win sax warld Championships (1981, 1983, 1984 an 1987–1989), an competit in the maist watched snooker match ever, the 1985 Warld Snooker Championship final wi Dennis Taylor. Stephen Hendry became the 14t in 1990 an dominated throu the 1990s, winnin seiven titles (1990, 1992–1996 an 1999). Ronnie O'Sullivan is the closest tae dominance in the modren era, havin won the title on five occasions in the 21st century (2001, 2004, 2008, 2012 an 2013). Mark Williams haes won three times (2000, 2003 an 2018) an John Higgins fower times (1998, 2007, 2009 an 2011), but syne the beginnin o the century, thare haes nae been a dominant force lik in previous decades, an the modren era haes seen mony players playin tae a seemilar staundart, insteid o ane player raisin the bar. Davis, fur ensaumple, won mair rankin toornaments than the rest o the tap-64 players put thegither bi 1985. Bi retainin his title in 2013, O'Sullivan became the first player tae successfully defend the Warld Championship syne Hendry in 1996 (Mark Selby wad dae this in 2017 an aw).

## Relatit pages
* 2019-20 snooker season
* Ladies warld Snooker Championship

## Notes

## References
### Citations

### Sources

* 

## External links

* Cuesports.club 
* Warld Snooker Limited
* Warld Professional Billiards & Snooker Association
* International Billiards & Snooker Federation
* European Billiards & Snooker Association
* History of Billiards in Brazil