Snooker Shoot Out
The Snooker Shoot Out is a professional ranking snooker tournament played under a variation of the standard rules. The 2017 event was the first time the tournament was staged as a ranking event. Hossein Vafaei is the current champion. History. Single frame snooker competition was a staple of early televised coverage of the sport, and largely responsible for bringing the game to the mainstream of British sport, primarily through the BBC's popular "Pot Black" programme. Extended televised coverage of longer professional tournaments, however, had caused the format to become jaded, with the last "Pot Black" tournament  taking place in 2007. A similar event known as Shoot-Out was first held in September 1990, when, except in the final, all matches were decided over a single frame. With the demise of "Pot Black", the event returned in 2011 with several innovations, and was renamed to Snooker Shoot Out. It was sponsored by CaesarsCasino.com. It was a one-frame shoot-out with a random draw, where the winner is given £32,000. The top 64 players in the world rankings contested the tournament, which was shown on Sky Sports and ITV4. The 2011 event was the first time  that Sky Sports had shown a World Snooker event live since 2004. From 2011 to 2015 the event took place at the Circus Arena in Blackpool. The event was sponsored by PartyPoker.com in 2012, by Betfair in 2013, by 888casino in 2014, and by Betway in 2015. The tournament was held at the Hexagon in Reading for 2016. From 2016 to 2018, the tournament was broadcast by ITV and was sponsored by Coral. In 2017, the tournament became a ranking event for the first time, open to all 128 professional players. At the end of the season, the players voted  to keep it as a ranking event. From 2017 the tournament was staged at the Colosseum in Watford. In 2018, the event agreed a long-term deal with Eurosport and Quest to broadcast the event in the United Kingdom until 2026, beginning with the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out. The event is notable for its wildcard entries, with female players Reanne Evans, Emma Parker, Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Rebecca Kenna entering the event over the years, while amateur players as young as 13 have been given the chance the take part. Format. Rules by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association: Century  breaks. Total: 24