Snooker
Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Featured article Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sport
Snooker (pronounced Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref name="Macmillan British" /><ref name="Macmillan American" /> is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets: one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with 22 balls, comprising a white Template:Cuegloss, 15 red balls and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black—collectively called 'Template:Cuegloss'. Using a snooker cue, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to Template:Cuegloss other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each Template:Cuegloss committed by the opposing player or team. An individual Template:Cuegloss of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points, and a snooker Template:Cuegloss ends when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.
In 1875, army officer Neville Chamberlain, stationed in India, devised a set of rules that combined black pool and pyramids. The word snooker was a Template:Nowrap derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or Template:Nowrap military personnel. In the early 20th century, snooker was predominantly played in the United Kingdom, where it was considered a "gentleman's sport" until the early 1960s before growing in popularity as a national pastime and eventually spreading overseas. The standard rules of the game were first established in 1919 when the Billiards Association and Control Club was formed. As a professional sport, snooker is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
The World Snooker Championship first took place in 1927, and Joe Davis, a key figure and pioneer in the early growth of the sport, won fifteen successive world championships between 1927 and 1946. The "modern era" of snooker began in 1969 after the broadcaster BBC commissioned the television series Pot Black, later airing daily coverage of the World Championship which was first televised in 1978. The most prominent players of the modern era are Ray Reardon (1970s), Steve Davis (1980s) and Stephen Hendry (1990s), each winning at least six world titles. Since 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the World Championship seven times, most recently in 2022.
Top professional players compete in regular tournaments around the world, earning millions of pounds on the World Snooker Tour—a circuit of international events featuring competitors of many different nationalities. The World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters together make up the Triple Crown Series and are considered by many players to be the most highly valued titles. The main professional tour is open to both male and female players, and there is a separate women's tour organised by World Women's Snooker. Competitive snooker is also available to Template:Nowrap players, including seniors and people with disabilities. The popularity of snooker has led to the creation of many variations based on the standard game but with different rules or equipment, including [[Six-red snooker|Template:Nowrap snooker]], the Template:Nowrap "snooker plus" and the more recent Snooker Shoot Out version.
HistoryEdit
Snooker originated in the second half of the 19th century in India during the British Raj.<ref name="origins" /> In the 1870s, billiards was popular among British Army officers stationed in Jubbulpore (now Jabalpur), India, and several variations of the game were devised during this time.<ref name="origins" />Template:Sfn A similar game, which originated at the Officers' Mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875,<ref name="heritage2008" /><ref name="WST History of Snooker" /> combined the rules of two pool games: pyramids, played with 15 red balls positioned in a triangle,Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name="LWC1881" /><ref name="Snooker-Forum.com" /> and black pool, which involved potting designated balls.<ref name="FullHistory" /><ref name="Neville Chamberlain disambiguation" /><ref name="Shamos 1994" /> Snooker was further developed in 1882 when its first set of rules was finalised by British Army officer Neville Chamberlain,Template:Efn<ref name="heritage2008" />Template:Sfn who helped devise and popularise the game at Stone House in Ootacamund on a table built by Burroughes & Watts that had been sent to India by sea.<ref name="telegraph2014" /><ref name="AZ Billiards" /> At the time, the word snooker was a slang term used in the British Army to describe new recruits and inexperienced military personnel; Chamberlain used the word to deride the inferior performance of a young fellow officer at the table.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The new game of snooker featured in an 1887 issue of the Sporting Life newspaper in England, which led to a growth in popularity.<ref name="heritage2008" /> Chamberlain was revealed to be the inventor, 63 years after the fact, in a letter to The Field magazine published on 19 March 1938.<ref name="heritage2008" /> Snooker became increasingly popular across the Indian colonies of the British Raj and in the United Kingdom, but it remained a game played mostly by military officers and the gentry.Template:Sfn Many gentlemen's clubs with a snooker table would refuse entry to Template:Nowrap who wished to go in and play snooker;<ref name="heritage2008" />Template:Efn to cater for the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker clubs were formed.<ref name="heritage2008" /> The Billiards Association (formed in 1885) and the Billiards Control Club (formed in 1908) merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club (BA&CC) and a new, standardised set of rules for snooker was first established in 1919.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The possibility of a drawn game was abolished by the use of a Template:Cuegloss as a tiebreaker.Template:Sfn These early rules are similar to those used in the modern game, although rules for a minimal point penalty were imposed later.Template:Sfn
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Played in 1926 and 1927, the first World Snooker Championship—then known as the Professional Championship of Snooker—was won by Joe Davis.<ref name="origins" />Template:Sfn<ref name="ProfessionalChampionship" /> The Women's Professional Snooker Championship (now the World Women's Snooker Championship) was created in 1934 for top female players.<ref name="EVERTONWTC" /><ref name="wome_Worl" /> Davis, himself a professional English billiards and snooker player, raised the game from a recreational pastime to a professional sporting activity.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He retired from the world championships in 1946, having won all fifteen tournaments held up to that date.<ref name="5J29x" />Template:Sfn Snooker declined in popularity in the Template:Nowrap era; the 1952 World Snooker Championship was contested by only two players and was replaced by the [[World Professional Match-play Championship|World Professional Template:Nowrap Championship]], which was also discontinued in 1957.Template:Sfn<ref name="WST History of Snooker" /> In an effort to boost the game's popularity, Davis introduced a variation known as "snooker plus" in 1959, with the addition of two extra colours, but this version of the game was Template:Nowrap.Template:Sfn A world championship for top amateur players, now known as the IBSF World Snooker Championship, was founded in 1963,<ref name="f9rUu" /> and the official world championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964.Template:Sfn
At the end of 1968, the World Snooker Championship reverted to a knockout tournament format, with eight competitors; the tournament concluded in 1969 with John Spencer winning the title.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The BBC had first launched its colour television service in July 1967;<ref name="BBC Pot Black" /> in 1969, David Attenborough, then the controller of BBC2, commissioned the snooker tournament television series Pot Black primarily to showcase the potential of the BBC's new colour television service—the green table and Template:Nowrap balls provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of the new broadcasting technology.<ref name="WST History of Snooker" /><ref name="news_BBCS" /><ref name="Cue China" /> The series became a ratings success and was, for a time, the second most popular show on BBC2 after Morecambe and Wise.<ref name="thet_Whit" /> Due to these developments, the year 1969 is taken to mark the beginning of snooker's modern era.<ref name="telegraph_JHeyes" /> The World Snooker Championship moved in 1977 to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where it has been staged ever since,<ref name=wst_crucible /> and the 1978 World Snooker Championship was the first to receive daily television coverage.<ref name="commonwealth" /> Snooker quickly became a mainstream sport in the United Kingdom,<ref name="theg_Hearn" /><ref name="GuardianThatch" /> Ireland, and much of the Commonwealth, and has remained consistently popular since the late 1970s, with most of the major tournaments being televised.<ref name="FullHistory" /> In 1985, an estimated 18.5 million viewers stayed up until the early hours of the morning to watch the conclusion of the World Championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis, a record viewership in the UK for any broadcast on BBC Two and for any broadcast after midnight.<ref name="dsoH1" /><ref name="inde_Grea" />
As professional snooker grew as a mainstream sport, it became heavily dependent on tobacco advertising. Cigarette brand Embassy sponsored the World Snooker Championship for thirty consecutive years from 1976 to 2005, one of the longest running deals in British sports sponsorship.<ref name="Marketing Week" /> In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertising led to a reduction in the number of professional tournaments,<ref name="GuardianSponsor" /><ref name="sponsor" /> which decreased from 22 events in 1999 to 15 in 2003.<ref name="snoo_WWWS" /><ref name="snoo_WWWS_GThzD" /> The sport had become more popular in Asia with the emergence of players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu,<ref name="BeebDing2" /><ref name="BeebDing1" /> and still received significant television coverage in the UK—the BBC dedicated 400 hours to snooker in 2007, compared to just 14 minutes 40 years earlier.<ref name="gE3Ec" /> However, the British public's interest in snooker had waned significantly by the late 2000s. Warning that the sport was "lurching into terminal crisis", The Guardian newspaper predicted in 2010 that snooker would cease to exist as a professional sport within ten years.<ref name="Guardian neg" /> In the same year, promoter Barry Hearn gained a controlling interest in the World Snooker Tour, pledging to revitalise the "moribund" professional game.<ref name="fUEoB" /><ref name="peHgu" /><ref name="GuardianHearn" />
Over the following decade, the number of professional tournaments increased, with 44 events held in the 2019–20 season.<ref name="snoo_Cale" /> Snooker tournaments were adapted to make them more suitable for television audiences, with some tournaments being played over a shortened duration,<ref name="bbc._Holt" /> or the Snooker Shoot Out, which is a timed, one Template:Cuegloss competition.<ref name="worl_2019" /> The prize money for professional events increased, with the top players earning several million pounds over the course of their careers.<ref name="IFuYf" /> During the [[COVID-19 pandemic|Template:Nowrap pandemic]], the professional tour was confined to events played within the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the 2022–23 season, only two professional ranking tournaments were played outside the UK, the European Masters in Fürth and the German Masters in Berlin, while lucrative Chinese events remained off the calendar.<ref name="SnookerHQ" />
Snooker referees are an integral part of the sport, and some have become Template:Nowrap personalities in their own right. Len Ganley, John Street and John Williams officiated at seventeen of the first twenty World Snooker finals held at the Crucible Theatre.<ref name="wst_refs" /> Since 2000, Template:Nowrap and female referees have become more prominent in the sport; Dutch referee Jan Verhaas became the first Template:Nowrap to referee a World Championship final in 2003,<ref name="wst_Verhaas" /> while Michaela Tabb became the first woman to do so in 2009.<ref name="wst_Tabb" /> Tabb was the only woman refereeing on the professional tour when she joined it in 2002,<ref name="sg_Tabb" /><ref name="bbc_Tabb" /> but tournaments now routinely feature female referees such as Desislava Bozhilova,<ref name="wst_Bozhilova" /> Maike Kesseler,<ref name="wst_Kesseler" /> and Tatiana Woollaston.<ref name="wst_Woollaston" />
GameplayEdit
EquipmentEdit
A standard full-size snooker table measures Template:Convert, with a rectangular Template:Cuegloss measuring Template:Convert.Template:Sfn The playing surface is surrounded by small Template:Cuegloss along each side of the table. The height of the table from the floor to the top of the cushions is Template:Convert.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp The table has six Template:Cuegloss: one at each corner and one at the centre of each of the two longer side cushions.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> One drawback of using a Template:Nowrap table is the amount of space required to accommodate it, which limits the locations where the game can easily be played. The minimum room size that allows space on all sides for comfortable cueing is Template:Convert.<ref name="roomsize" /> While pool tables are common to many pubs, snooker tends to be played either in private settings or in public snooker halls.<ref name="BBC get inspired" /> The game can also be played on smaller tables,Template:Sfn with variant table sizes including Template:Convert, Template:Convert, Template:Convert, and Template:Convert.<ref name="snoo_Pool" />
The cloth on a snooker table is usually a form of tightly woven woollen green baize,Template:Sfn with a directional nap that runs lengthwise from the Template:Cuegloss of the table to the far end near the Template:Cuegloss.Template:Sfn The nap affects the speed and trajectory of the balls, depending on the direction of the shot and whether any Template:Cuegloss is placed on the ball.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Even if the Template:Cuegloss is struck in precisely the same manner, the effect of the nap will differ according to whether the ball is directed towards the Template:Cuegloss or towards the opposite end of the table.<ref name="heritage2008"/>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
A snooker ball set consists of 22 unmarked balls: 15 Template:Cuegloss, six Template:Cuegloss, and one white cue ball. The colours are one each of yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black,Template:Sfn although the brown and blue balls were not a part of the original rules.Template:Sfn Each ball has a diameter of Template:Convert.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp At the start of the game, the red balls are Template:Cuegloss into a tightly packed equilateral triangle, and the colours are positioned at designated Template:Cuegloss on the table. The cue ball is placed inside Template:Cuegloss ready for the Template:Cuegloss shot.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
Each player has a snooker cue (or simply a "cue"), not less than Template:Convert in length, which is used to strike the cue ball. The Template:Cuegloss of the cue must only make contact with the cue ball and is never used for striking any of the reds or colours directly.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
Snooker accessories include: Template:Cuegloss for the tip of the cue, to help apply Template:Cuegloss on the cue ball; various different Template:Cuegloss such as the Template:Cuegloss or Template:Cuegloss, for playing shots that are difficult to play by hand; Template:Cuegloss for lengthening the cue; a Template:Cuegloss for racking the reds; and a Template:Cuegloss, typically attached to a wall near the snooker table.Template:Sfn A traditional snooker scoreboard resembles an abacus and records the Template:Cuegloss scored by each player for the current frame in units and twenties, as well as the frame scores. A simple scoring bead is sometimes used, called a "scoring string" or "scoring wire".<ref name="Scorboard" /> Each segment of the string (bead) represents one point as the players can move one or several beads along the string.<ref name="Scorboard" />
Additional accessories include cue tips of varying hardness to suit player preferences, Template:Nowrap cue grips for better control, and specialized table brushes and cloths to maintain optimal table conditions.
RulesEdit
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ObjectiveEdit
A player wins a frame by scoring more points than their opponent. At the start of a frame, the Template:Cuegloss are positioned on the table as shown in illustration A. Starting with the cue ball in the "D", the first player executes a Template:Nowrap shot by striking the cue ball with the tip of their cue, aiming to hit any of the red balls in the triangular Template:Cuegloss. The players then take alternating Template:Cuegloss at playing shots,Template:Efn with the aim of Template:Cuegloss a red ball into a pocket and thereby scoring one point. Failure to make contact with a red ball constitutes a Template:Cuegloss, which results in penalty points being awarded to the opponent.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> At the end of each shot, the cue ball remains in the position where it has come to rest, unless it has entered a pocket (from where it is returned to the "D"), ready for the next shot.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp If the cue ball finishes in contact with an object ball, a Template:Cuegloss is called;Template:Efn the player must then play away from that ball without moving it, otherwise the player will concede penalty points.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
When a red ball has entered a pocket, the strikerTemplate:Efn must then choose a coloured ball (or "colour") and attempt to pot it.Template:Efn If successful, the value of the potted colour is added to the player's score, and the colour is returned to its designated spot on the table.Template:Efn The player must then pot another red ball followed by another colour. The process of alternately potting reds and colours continues until the striker fails to pot the desired object ball or commits a foul—at which point the opponent comes to the table to start the next turn—or when there are no red balls remaining in play.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> Points accumulated by potting successive object balls are called a "Template:Cuegloss" (see Scoring below).<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> At the start of each player's turn, the objective is to first pot a red ball, unless all reds are off the table or the player has been awarded a Template:Cuegloss, which allows them to nominate another object ball in place of a red.<ref name="rule_Snoo" /> The cue ball can contact an object ball directly or it may be made to bounce off one or more cushions before hitting the required object ball.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
The game continues until all 15 red balls have been potted and only the six colours and the cue ball are left on the table.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> The colours must next be potted in the ascending order of their values, from lowest to highest, i.e. Template:Cuegloss first (worth two points), then Template:Cuegloss (three points), Template:Cuegloss (four points), Template:Cuegloss (five points), Template:Cuegloss (six points), and finally Template:Cuegloss (seven points); at this stage of the game, each colour remains in the pocket after being potted.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /> When the final ball is potted, the player who has accumulated the most points wins the frame.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Efn If there are not enough points remaining on the table for a player to potentially win the frame, that player may offer to concede the frame while at the table (but not while their opponent is still at the table); a frame Template:Cuegloss is a common occurrence in professional snooker.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /><ref name="rule_Snoo" /> However, players will often play on even when there are not enough points available for them to win, in the hope of laying one or more "Template:Cuegloss" to force their opponent into playing foul shots.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" /><ref name="rule_Snoo" /> Snookers are shots designed to make it difficult for the opponent to play a Template:Cuegloss shot on their next turn, such as leaving another ball between the cue ball and the object ball.Template:Sfn
If the scores are equal when all object balls have been potted, the black is used as a tiebreaker in a situation called a "Template:Cuegloss". The black ball is returned to its designated spot and the cue ball is played Template:Cuegloss, meaning that it may be placed anywhere on or within the lines of the "D" to start the tiebreak. The player to take the first strike in the tiebreak is chosen at random, and the game continues until one of the players either wins the frame by potting the black ball or loses the frame by committing a foul.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
Professional and competitive amateur matches are officiated by a referee who is charged with ensuring the proper conduct of players and making decisions "in the interests of fair play". The responsibilities of the referee include announcing the points scored during a break, determining when a foul has been committed and awarding penalty points and free balls accordingly, replacing colours onto their designated spots after being potted, restoring the balls to their previous positions after the "Template:Cuegloss" rule has been invoked (see Scoring below), and cleaning the cue ball or any object ball upon request by the striker.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp Another duty of the referee is to recognise and declare a stalemate when neither player is able to make any progress in the frame. If both players agree, the balls are returned to their starting positions (known as a "Template:Cuegloss") and the frame is restarted, with the same player taking the Template:Nowrap shot as in the abandoned frame.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp Professional players usually play the game in a sporting manner, declaring fouls they have committed that the referee has not noticed,<ref name="belf_Mark" /> acknowledging good shots from their opponent, and holding up a hand to apologise for a fortunate shot (known as a "Template:Cuegloss").<ref name="belf_Mark" />Template:Sfn
ScoringEdit
| Colour | Value |
|---|---|
| File:Snooker ball red.png Template:Cuegloss | 1 point |
| File:Snooker ball yellow.png Template:Cuegloss | 2 points |
| File:Snooker ball green.png Template:Cuegloss | 3 points |
| File:Snooker ball brown.png Template:Cuegloss | 4 points |
| File:Snooker ball blue.png Template:Cuegloss | 5 points |
| File:Snooker ball pink.png Template:Cuegloss | 6 points |
| File:Snooker ball black.png Template:Cuegloss | 7 points |
Points in snooker are gained from potting the object balls in the correct sequence. The total number of consecutive points (excluding fouls) that a player amasses during one Template:Cuegloss to the table is known as a "break".Template:Sfn For example, a player could achieve a break of 15 by first potting a red followed by a black, then another red followed by a pink, before failing to pot the next red. A break of 100 points or more is referred to as a century break; these are recorded over the career of a professional player.<ref name="rise of century" /> A maximum break in snooker (often known as a "147" or a "maximum") is achieved by potting all reds with blacks, then potting all six colours in sequence, yielding 147 points.<ref name="Max 210" /> Template:As of, there have been 214 officially confirmed maximum breaks achieved in professional competition.<ref name="Official 147s" /><ref name="Max 214" />
Penalty points are awarded to a player when their opponent commits a foul. This can occur for various reasons, such as sending the cue ball into a pocket or failing to hit the object ball. The latter is a common foul committed when a player fails to escape from a "snooker", where the previous player has left the cue ball positioned such that no legal ball can be struck directly in a straight line without being wholly or partially obstructed by an illegal ball. Fouls incur a minimum of four penalty points unless a higher value object ball is involved in the foul,Template:Efn up to a maximum of seven penalty points where the black ball is concerned.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:RpTemplate:Efn When a foul is committed, the offending player's turn ends and the referee announces the penalty. All points scored in the break before the foul occurred are awarded to the striker, but no points are scored for any ball pocketed during the foul shot.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp
If dissatisfied with the position left after a foul, the next player may nominate the opponent who committed the foul to continue playing from where the balls have come to rest. If the referee has also called a "miss"—meaning that the offending player is deemed not to have made their best possible attempt to hit the object ball—the next player has the option of having the balls replaced to their original positions and forcing their opponent to replay the intended shot. If, after a foul, it is not possible to cleanly strike both sides of the object ball directly, the referee may call a free ball, allowing the next player to nominate any other ball in place of the object ball they might normally have played.<ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp If a player is awarded a free ball with all fifteen reds still in play, they can potentially make a break exceeding 147, with the highest possible being a 155 break, achieved by nominating the free ball as an extra red, then potting the black as the additional colour after potting the Template:Nowrap red, followed by the fifteen reds with blacks, and finally the colours.Template:Sfn Jamie Cope was the first player to achieve a verified 155 break during a practice frame in 2005.<ref name="guardian_murphy" />
One Template:Cuegloss of snooker is called a "frame", and a snooker Template:Cuegloss generally consists of a predetermined number of frames. Most matches in current professional tournaments are played as the best of 7, 9, or 11 frames, with finals usually the best of 17 or 19 frames. The World Championship uses a longer format, with matches ranging from the best of 19 frames in the first round to best of 35 for the final, which is played over four Template:Cuegloss of play held over two days.<ref name="BBCWSN1" /> Some early world finals had much longer matches, such as the 1947 World Snooker Championship, which was played over the best of 145 frames.<ref name="Snooker Scene" />Template:Sfn
Governance and tournamentsEdit
ProfessionalEdit
World Snooker TourEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Professional snooker players compete on the World Snooker Tour, which is a circuit of world ranking tournaments and invitational events held throughout the snooker season. All competitions are open to professional players who have qualified for the tour, and selected amateur players, but most events include a separate qualification stage. Players can qualify for the tour by virtue of their position in the world rankings from prior seasons, by winning continental championships, or through the Challenge Tour or Q School events.<ref name="qualifortour" /> Players on the World Snooker Tour generally gain a Template:Nowrap "tour card" for participation in the events.<ref name="qualifortour" /> Beginning in the 2014–15 season, some players have also received invitational tour cards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the sport; these cards are issued at the discretion of the World Snooker Board, and have been awarded to players including Steve Davis, James Wattana, Jimmy White, and Stephen Hendry.<ref name="wpbsa_TourCards" /> Some additional secondary tours have been contested over the years. A Template:Nowrap structure was adopted for the [[1997–98 snooker season|1997Template:Nbnd98 season]]; comprising six tournaments known as the WPBSA Minor Tour was open to all professionals, but only ran for one season.Template:Sfn<ref name="cajt secondary" /> A similar secondary UK Tour was first played from the 1997–98 season, which was renamed the Challenge Tour in 2000, Players Tour Championship in 2010 and returned as the Challenge Tour in 2018.Template:Sfn<ref name="cajt secondary"/><ref name="wst._Worl" />
The global governing body for professional snooker is the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA),<ref name="wpbsa_gov.body" /><ref name="wst_wpbsa" /> founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiards Players' Association.<ref name="wpbsafounding" /><ref name="uia_wpbsa" /> The WPBSA owns and publishes the official rules of snooker,<ref name="wst_wpbsa" /><ref name="BusinessLive" /> and has overall responsibility for policy making in the professional sport of snooker.<ref name="wpbsafounding" /> World Snooker Ltd is responsible for the professional tour which is owned by both the WPBSA and Matchroom Sport.<ref name="QbFUx" />
World rankingsEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Every player on the World Snooker Tour is assigned a position on the WPBSA's official world ranking list, which is used to determine the seedings and the level of qualification each player requires for the tournaments on the professional circuit.<ref name="WPBSA Rankings FAQ" /> The current world rankings are determined using a Template:Nowrap rolling points system, where points are allocated to the players according to the prize money earned at designated tournaments.<ref name="RankingPointsSchedule" /> This "rolling" list is maintained and updated throughout the season, with points from tournaments played in the current season replacing points earned from the corresponding tournaments of two seasons ago. Additionally, "Template:Nowrap" and "Template:Nowrap" ranking lists are compiled at the end of every season, after the World Championship; these Template:Nowrap lists are used for Template:Nowrap at certain tournaments and for Template:Nowrap guarantees.<ref name="WPBSA Rankings FAQ" />
The top 16 players in the world ranking list, generally regarded as the "elite" of the professional snooker circuit,<ref name="top16-1" /> are not required to Template:Nowrap for some of the tournaments, such as the Shanghai Masters, the Masters and the World Snooker Championship.<ref name="top16-2" /> Certain other events, such as those in the Players Series, use the Template:Nowrap ranking list to qualify; these use the results of the current season to denote participants.<ref name="news_Cora" /> There are approximately 128 places available on the World Snooker Tour each season.<ref name="WPBSA tour1" /> As of the 2024–25 season, players in the top 64 on the official ranking list are guaranteed a tour place for the next season, as well as a maximum of 31 players who are currently on the first year of a Template:Nowrap tour card, and the top four prize money earners during the most recent season who are not already qualified; this being assessed after the World Championship.<ref name="WPBSA tour2" />
TournamentsEdit
Template:See also The oldest current professional snooker tournament is the World Snooker Championship,<ref name="BBCWSN1" /> which has taken place as an annual event most years since 1927.<ref name="World Snooker list" /><ref name="vDR55" /> Hosted at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield since 1977,<ref name="World Snooker list" /> the championship was sponsored by tobacco company Embassy from 1976 to 2005<ref name="GuardianSponsor" /> and has since been sponsored by various betting companies after the introduction of an Template:Nowrap ban on the advertising of tobacco products.<ref name="BBC 4732047" /><ref name="Np1Uq" /><ref name="sbcn_Betf" /> The World Championship is the most highly valued title in professional snooker,<ref name="wcvalue" /> in terms of financial reward (the tournament has carried a £500,000 winner's prize since 2019), ranking points and prestige.<ref name="wcprizemoney" /><ref name="earnings_and_era_dominance" />
The UK Championship, held annually since 1977, is considered to be the second most important ranking tournament after the World Championship.<ref name="WST_UKchamp" /> These two events, and the annual Template:Nowrap Masters tournament, make up snooker's Triple Crown Series;<ref name="dottmasters" /><ref name="TC winners" /> among the oldest competitions on the professional circuit, the Triple Crown events are valued by many players as the most prestigious.<ref name="TC winners" /> Template:As of, only eleven players have won all three events,<ref name="SN Triple Crown" /> the most recent being Judd Trump who completed the Triple Crown in May 2019.<ref name="BBC20190506" /> The Triple Crown events are televised in the UK by the BBC,<ref name="bbc_deal2022" /><ref name="bbc_deal2024" /><ref name="bbc_deal2027" /> while most other tournaments are broadcast across Europe on the Eurosport network,<ref name="eurosport_deal2016" /> or ITV Sport,<ref name="SportsPro Media" /> as well as numerous other broadcasters internationally.<ref name=wst_broadcasters22 /><ref name="wst_WatchLive" />
After facing some criticism for matches taking too long,<ref name="GuardianDull" /> Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn introduced a series of timed tournaments: the Template:Nowrap Premier League Snooker, held between 1987 and 2012, featured seven players invited to compete at regular United Kingdom venues and was televised on Sky Sports.<ref name="earnings_and_era_dominance" /> The players had 25 seconds to take each shot, with each player allowed five Template:Nowrap per match. The format did achieve some success but was not afforded the same amount of press attention or status as the regular ranking tournaments.<ref name="GuardianDull" /> The event was removed from the professional tour after the 2012–13 season, when the Champion of Champions was Template:Nowrap;<ref name="en.e_O'Su" /> players qualify for this tournament by virtue of winning other events in the season, with sixteen champions competing.<ref name="cham_Cham" />Template:Efn
Classified as a "precision sport" by the International Olympic Committee, snooker has never been contested at the Summer Olympics.<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /><ref name="sky.history" />Template:Efn In 2015, the WPBSA submitted a bid for snooker to be included at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,<ref name="Snookerolympic" /> but without success.<ref name="eN1gH" /> Since its launch in October 2017, the World Snooker Federation (WSF) has been advocating for snooker to be added to the Olympic and Paralympic programme.<ref name="itg_wsf" /><ref name="wsf" /> Their initial bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics was unsuccessful,<ref name="KpBpW" /><ref name="T9wCo" /> but the WSF is campaigning for snooker to be included at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /> Olympic status would create a significant public funding opportunity for the sport and boost its global exposure.<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /> A trial of the format for cue sports to be played at the 2024 Games was conducted at the 2019 World Team Trophy, which also featured [[Nine-ball|Template:Nowrap]] and carom billiards.<ref name="azbi_Inau" /> Snooker has been contested at the World Games since 2001 and was included as an event at the 2019 African Games.<ref name="jtHKc" /><ref name="eN7hQ" /><ref name="pHlSh" />
CriticismEdit
Several players, including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Allen and Steve Davis, have claimed that there are too many tournaments in the season, causing burnout of players.<ref name="JrHL1" /> O'Sullivan played only a subset of tournaments in 2012, so he could spend more time with his children; as a result he ended the 2012–13 season ranked 19th in the world despite being the world champion. O'Sullivan played only one tournament in 2013, the World Championship, which he won.<ref name="theg_Ronn" /> He suggested that a "breakaway tour" with fewer events would be beneficial to the sport, but none was organised.<ref name="bbc._Ronn" />
Some players, including 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy, have asserted that a 128 player professional tour is financially unsustainable.<ref name="Eurosport bread" /><ref name="Eurosport JT" /> Template:Nowrap professional players can struggle to make a living from the sport, especially after paying tournament entry fees, travel costs and other expenses.<ref name="Metro_Haigh_2022" /> In 2023, Stephen Maguire criticised the World Snooker Tour and WPBSA, claiming that "the game is dying right in front of our eyes",<ref name="Express_2023_01_27" /> and stating that some players ranked within the world's top 30 were seeking jobs outside the sport due to lack of earning potential from tournaments.<ref name="Mirror_2023_01_27" />
AmateurEdit
Non-professional snooker (including youth competition) is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).<ref name="ibsf" /> The highest level competition in the amateur sport is the IBSF World Snooker Championship.<ref name="trib_Muha" /> Events held specifically for seniors are handled by the WPBSA under the World Seniors Tour,<ref name="LANCS" /><ref name="J3Vse" /><ref name="worl_WPBS" /> the highest level of the senior sport being the World Seniors Championship.<ref name="worl_WPBS" /> World Disability Billiards and Snooker (WDBS) is a WPBSA subsidiary that organises events and playing aids in snooker and other cue sports for people with disabilities.<ref name="BBC get inspired" /> The most prestigious amateur event in England is the English Amateur Championship; first held in 1916, this is the oldest snooker competition still being played in the world.<ref name="wst._Hanc" />
Snooker is a mixed gender sport that affords men and women the same opportunities to progress at all levels of the game. While the main professional tour is open to male and female players alike, there is also a separate women's tour organised by World Women's Snooker (formerly the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association) which encourages female players to participate in the sport and take part in high level amateur competitions.<ref name="BBC get inspired" /><ref name="wws_about" /> The leading tournament on the women's tour is the World Women's Snooker Championship, the winner of which receives a Template:Nowrap tour card to the main professional tour.<ref name="wst_wwsc" />
Reanne Evans won the women's world title a record twelve times, including ten consecutive victories from 2005 to 2014.<ref name="bbc_evans12th" /><ref name="WWSC" /> She has also participated on the World Snooker Tour and has taken part in the qualifying rounds of the main World Snooker Championship on five occasions, reaching the second round in 2017.<ref name="bbc._Wome" /> Evans holds the record for the highest break made in WWS competition, having achieved a 140 break twice (in 2008 and 2010).<ref name="wome_Worl" /> Other successful female players are Kelly Fisher (with five women's world titles), Ng On-yee (with three), and most recently Nutcharut Wongharuthai, Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan and Bai Yulu, who won the World Women's Snooker Championship in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.<ref name="WWSC"/>
Some leagues have allowed clubs to exclude female players from tournaments.<ref name="BBC_Leeds_2019_03_26" /><ref name="bIhfn" /> A committee member of the Keighley league defended allowing such teams in the league as necessity: "If we lose two of these clubs [with the Template:Nowrap policies] we would lose four teams and we can't afford to lose four teams otherwise we would have no league."<ref name="BBC_Leeds_2019_03_26" /> A World Women's Snooker spokesperson commented, "It is disappointing and unacceptable that in 2019 that Template:Sic players such as Rebecca Kenna have been the victim of antiquated discriminatory practices."<ref name="BBC_Leeds_2019_03_27" /> The [[All-Party Parliamentary Group|Template:Nowrap parliamentary group]] for snooker said, "The group believes that being prevented from playing in a club because of gender is archaic."<ref name="BBC_Leeds_2019_03_27" />
Important playersEdit
After the creation of the World Snooker Championship, snooker overtook billiards as the most popular cue sport in the United Kingdom.<ref name="hist_Hist" /> Joe Davis was the World Champion for twenty years, retiring unbeaten in the event after claiming his fifteenth world title in 1946 when the tournament was reinstated after the Second World War.<ref name="Joe Davis" /> During his entire professional career, Davis remained undefeated when playing on equal terms, although he did lose some matches in handicapped tournaments.<ref name="Joe Davis" /><ref name="2QWfZ" />Template:Sfn He was only ever beaten on level terms by his younger brother Fred Davis, but not until after he had retired from professional play.<ref name="Joe Davis" />
By 1947, Fred Davis was deemed by his older brother ready to become World Champion,<ref name="Joe Davis" /> but he lost that year's world final to Walter Donaldson.<ref name="Western Daily Press" /><ref name="Mercury" /> Davis and Donaldson contested the next four world finals, with Davis winning three of the four.Template:Sfn With the abandonment of the World Championship in 1953 (after the boycott of the 1952 event by British professionals), the World Professional Template:Nowrap Championship became the unofficial world championship.Template:Sfn Fred Davis won the tournament every year from 1952 to 1956 but did not enter the 1957 event.<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk" /> John Pulman won in 1957 and was the most successful player of the 1960s, winning the world title seven times between April 1964 and March 1968 while the World Championship was being contested at irregular intervals on a challenge basis.Template:Sfn<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk"/> Pulman's winning streak ended when the tournament reverted to a knockout format in 1968.<ref name="TIMES23NOV" /><ref name="SjlVi" /> Ray Reardon was the dominant force of the 1970s, winning six world titles (in 1970, 1973–1976, and 1978), and John Spencer won the world title three times (in 1969, 1971 and 1977).<ref name="Inside Snooker" /><ref name="Times_24Apr1976" />
Template:Multiple image Steve Davis (no relation to Joe or Fred) won his first World Championship in 1981, becoming the 11th World Snooker Champion since 1927.<ref name="Times_21Apr1981" /><ref name="Times_07Apr1981" /> He won six world titles altogether (in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1987–1989) and competed in the Template:Nowrap snooker match, the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, which he lost to Dennis Taylor.<ref name="dsoH1" /> Stephen Hendry became the 14th World Snooker Champion in 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days, the youngest player ever to have lifted the world title.<ref name="WST History of Snooker" /> He dominated the sport through the 1990s,Template:Sfn winning the World Championship seven times (in 1990, 1992–1996, and 1999).<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk" /><ref name="Global Snooker" />
Ronnie O'Sullivan has claimed the most world titles since 2000, having won the World Championship seven times (in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022).<ref name="BBC RO worlds" /> John Higgins and Mark Selby have both won four world titles (Higgins in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011; Selby in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021),<ref name="BBC JH worlds" /><ref name="BBC MS worlds" /> and Mark Williams three (in 2000, 2003 and 2018).<ref name="BBC MW worlds" /><ref name="SN most worlds" /> O'Sullivan, Higgins and Judd Trump are the only players to have made over 1,000 career century breaks.<ref name="SnookerInfo_CenturyBreaks" /> O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most maximum breaks compiled in professional competition, having achieved his 15th in October 2018.<ref name="Millennial Man" /> O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most ranking titles (41) and most Triple Crown titles (23) achieved in the sport.<ref name="wst.ros" />
VariantsEdit
Some versions of snooker, such as six-red or ten-red snooker, are played with almost identical rules to the standard game but with fewer object balls, reducing the time taken to play each frame.<ref name="BBC Super 6" /><ref name="WPBSA_Official_Rules" />Template:Rp The [[Six-red World Championship|Template:Nowrap World Championship]], contested annually in Bangkok, Thailand, was a regular fixture on the World Snooker Tour between 2012 and 2023.<ref name="WST Six Red History" /> A World Women's Template:Nowrap Championship was held annually in Leeds, England, from 2017 to 2019.<ref name="S1tVF" /><ref name="NOKNf" /><ref name="c4a7C" />
Geographic variations exist in the United States and Brazil, while speed versions of the standard game have been developed in the United Kingdom. American snooker is an amateur version of the game played almost exclusively in the United States.Template:Sfn With simplified rules and generally played on smaller tables, this variant dates back to 1925.Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn Sinuca brasileira (or "Brazilian snooker") is a variant of snooker played exclusively in Brazil, with fully divergent rules from the standard game and using only one red ball instead of fifteen. At the start of the game, the single red is positioned halfway between the pink ball and the side cushion, and the Template:Nowrap shot cannot be used to pot the red or place the opponent in a snooker.<ref name="sinu_Hist" /> The Snooker Shoot Out is a variant snooker tournament consisting of single frame matches for an accelerated format. First staged in 1990, the idea was resurrected in 2011 with a modified version that was added to the professional tour in the 2010–11 season and upgraded to a ranking event in 2017.<ref name="Eurosport shoot out" /><ref name="7DxzR" />
Other games have been designed with an increased number of object balls in play. One example is "snooker plus", which included two additional colours: an orange ball worth eight points positioned between pink and blue, and a purple ball worth ten points positioned between brown and blue, increasing the maximum possible break to 210.<ref name="8NWyU" /> Introduced at the 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament, this variant failed to gain popularity and is no longer played.Template:Sfn Power Snooker was a Template:Nowrap cue sport based on aspects of snooker and pool; this was first played competitively in 2010 and again in 2011, but the format was discontinued after it failed to gain widespread appeal.<ref name="Eurosport shoot out" /> Using nine red balls racked in a diamond shaped pack at the start of the game, the matches were limited to a fixed Template:Nowrap period of 30 minutes.<ref name="GuardianPower" /> Tenball was a snooker variant designed specifically for the television show of the same name, an LWT production that was broadcast for one series in 1995. An extra ball worth ten points (the yellow and black "tenball") was added between the blue and pink, and the game had a slightly revised set of rules compared to the standard game.<ref name="ukgameshow" />
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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External linksEdit
Template:Commons and category Template:Sister project
- World Snooker Tour
- World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association
- World Women's Snooker
- World Disability Billiards and Snooker
- World Seniors Snooker
- International Billiards & Snooker Federation
Template:Cue sports nav Template:Snooker lists Template:Authority control