Snooker

Snooker (pronountit UK /ˈsnuːkə/, US /ˈsnʊkər/) i a cue sport tha originatit amang Breetish Armie officer stationed i Indie i the second hauf o the 19t century.

It is played on a rectangular table covered wi a green cloth (or "baize"), wi pockets at each o the fower corners an i the middle o each lang side. Usin a cue stick [en] an 21 coloured bawls, players must strike the white bawl (or "cue bawl") tae pot or pocket tha remainin bawls i the correct sequence, accumulatin pynts fur each pot. An individual gemme (or frame), is won bi the player scorin the maist pynts. A match i won whan a player wins a predetermined batch o frames.

Snooker
Snooker
Three-time warld champion Mark Selby playin a practice game
Heichest govrenin bodyWPBSA
IBSF
First played1870 i Indie
Characteristics
ContactNon-contact
CategorizationCue sport
EquipmentSnooker table, snooker balls, cue stick, triangle, chalk
VenueSnooker table
OlympicIOC recognition

Snooker gained identity in 1884 whan armie officer Sir Neville Chamberlain [en], stationed in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, devised a set o rules that combined pyramid [en] an black puil [en]. The wird snooker wis a lang-uised military term fur inexperienced or first-year personnel. The gemme grew i popularity i the United Kingdom, an the Billiards Association an Control Club [en] wis formed i 1919. It i noo governed bi the Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association (WPBSA).

The Warld Snooker Championship haes taken place syne 1927. Joe Davis, a key figure i the early growthe o the sport, won the championship 15 straucht times atween 1927 an 1946. The "modern era" began in 1969 efter the broadcaster BBC commissioned the snooker telly show Pot Black an later began tae air the Warld Championship in 1978. Key figures i the gemme war Ray Reardon i the 1970s, Steve Davis i the 1980s, an Stephen Hendry i the 1990s, each winnin sax or mair Warld championships. Syne 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan haes won the maist warld titles, wi five. Top professional players noo compete regularly aroond the warld an earn millions o pounds on the Warld Snooker Tour, which features players frae across the warld.

History

Snooker 
Sir Neville Chamberlain, a Breetish Army officer who devised the gemme an its rules in the late 19t century

The origin o snooker dates back tae the latter hauf o the 19t century. In the 1870s, English billiards wis a popular activity amang Breetish Army officers stationed i Indie, an several variations o the gemme war devised durin this time. Ane variation that originatit a the officers' mess o the 11t Devonshire Regiment in 1875 combined the rules o twa pocket billiards games: pyramid [en] an black puil [en]. The umwhile wis played wi 15 reid coloured bawls poseetioned i a triangle, while the latter involved the pottin o designatit bawls. The gemme wis developit i 1884 whan its first set o rules wis finalised bi Sir Neville Chamberlain, an English army officer who helped 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 i England i a copy o Sporting Life which caused a growthe in popularity. Chamberlain came out as the gemme's inventor in a letter tae The Field published on 19 Mairch 1938, 63 years efter the fact.

Snooker grew i popularity across the Indian colonies an the United Kingdom, but it remained a gemme mainly fur the gentry, an mony gentlemen's clubs that haed a billiards table wad nae 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 English billiards an snooker player, moved the gemme frae a pastime tae a professional activity. Davis won every warld championship until 1946, whan he retired frae the championships. The gemme went inna a decline throu the 1950s an 1960s wi little interest generatit ootside o thae who played. In 1959, Davis introduced a variation o the gemme kent as "Snooker Plus" tae try tae improve the gemme'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 bawls 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 shaw on BBC Twa. Interest i the gemme increased an the 1978 Warld Snooker Championship wis the first tae be fully televised. The gemme quickly became a mainstream gemme i the United Kingdom, Ireland an much o the Commonwealth, an haes enjoyed much success syne 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 atween Dennis Taylor an Steve Davis, a record viewership fur the United Kingdom fur ony broadcast efter midnight. In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertisin led tae a decrease i the nummer o professional tournamen, wi professional toornaments bein cut tae anly 15 events i 2003, frae 22 i 1999. Houiver, 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 dedicated 400 oors tae snooker coverage, compared tae juist 14 minutes 40 years 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 gemme. Syne this time, the nummer o professional toornaments haes increased, 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-frame toornament. Prize money fur professional 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

Snooker 
Snooker table wi bawls placed i thair startin poseetion. At the stairt o the gemme, the cue ball (white) mai be placed anywhere i the semicircle, kent as the "D".
Snooker 
A gemme played on a hauf-size table. The player i strikin at the cue ball tae pot a reid ball intae the corner pocket.

The objective o the gemme i tae score mair pynts than ane's opponent bi pottin bawls in the correct order. At the stairt o a frame, the bawls are poseetioned as shawn i Figure A, an the players then tak turns hittin shots bi strikin the "cue bawl" wi the cue stick, thair aim bein tae pot ane o the reid bawls (or "red") intae a pocket an tharebi score a pynt. Failure tae mak contact wi the reid constitutes a fowl shot. If the striker pots a reid, thay must then pot ane o the sax "colours". If the player successfully pots a colour, the value o that ball i added tae the player's score, an the ball i returned tae its startin poseetion on the table. Efter that, the player must pot anither reid, then anither colour, in sequence. This process continues until the striker fails tae pot the desired ball, at which pynt the opponen comes tae the table tae play the next shot. The act o scorin sequentially in this manner i tae mak a brak (see scorin ablo).

Computer simulation o a snooker brak-off shot

The gemme continues in this manner until all reds are potted an anly the sax colours are left on the table. At this pynt the colours must be potted in the order frae least tae maist valuable bawl, as per the table tae the right. The shots are: yellow (twa pynts), green (three pynts), brown (fower pynts), blue (five pynts), pink (sax pynts) an black (seiven pynts), the balls nae bein returned tae play. Whan the final ball i potted, the player wi mair pynts wins. If the scores are equal whan all the balls hae been potted, the black i placed back on its spot as a tiebreaker. In this situation, cried re-spotted black, the black ball i placed on its designated spot an the cue ball is played as ball in haund. The referee then tosses a coin an the winner decides which player goes first. The frame continues until ane o the players pots the black ball or commits a foul. A player mey concede a frame while on strike an aw if he or she thinks thare are nae eneuch pynts available on the table tae beat the opponen's score. In professional snooker this i a common occurrence. Professional an competitive amateur matches are officiated bi a referee. The referee replaces the colours on the table whan necessar an calls out how mony pynts the player haes scored durin a brak an aw. Professional players uisually play the gemme in a sportin manner, declarin fouls which thay hae committed but the referee haes missed, acknowledgin good shots frae thair opponent, an holdin up a haund tae apologise fur fortunate shots, kent as "flukes".

Scorin

Pynts in snooker are gained frae pottin the correct balls in sequence. The tot nummer o consecutive pynts (excludin fouls) that a player amasses durin ane veesit tae the table is kent as a brak. A player attainin a brak o 15, fur ensaumple, coud hae reached it bi pottin a reid then a black, then a reid then a pink, afore failin tae pot the next reid. A maximum brak in snooker is achieved bi pottin all reds wi blacks then all colours, yieldin 147 pynts; this is eften kent as a "147" or juist as a "maximum".

Colour Value
Red 1 pynt
Yellow 2 pynts
Green 3 pynts
Brown 4 pynts
Blue 5 pynts
Pink 6 pynts
Black 7 pynts

Pynts mey be scored in a gemme whan a player's opponent fouls an aw. A foul can occur fur various reasons, maist commonly fur failin tae hit the correct ball (e.g. hittin a colour first whan the player wis attemptin tae hit a reid), or fur sendin the cue bawl inna pocket. The umwhile mey occur whan the player fails tae escape frae a "snooker" – a situation in that the previous player leaves the cue ball poseetioned sic that no legal bawl can be struck directly withoot obstruction bi an illegal bawl. Pynts gained frae a foul vary frae a minimum o fower tae a maximum o seiven if the black bawl i involved.

A foul shot that leaves no valid shot fur the opponent can leave them a "free bawl". A free bawl allows a player tae uise ony ither coloured ball in place o the shot thay war supposed tae play. Doin sae wi all 15 reid bawls in play can result in a brak exceedin a maximum, wi the heichest possible bein a 155 break, achieved via the opponen leavin a free bawl, wi the black bein potted as the additional colour, an then pottin 15 reds an blacks wi the colours. Jamie Cope [en] 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 Alex Higgins claimin tae hae made a seemilar brak an aw.

Ane gemme, frae the balls in thair startin poseetion until the last bawl i potted, is cried a "frame". A match generally consists o a predetermined nummer o frames an the player who wins the maist frames wins the match. Maist professional matches require a player tae win five frames, an are cried "best-of-nine" in reference tae the maximum possible nummer o frames. toornament 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 held ower twa days.

Governance an tournaments

The Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association (WPBSA, kent as Warld Snooker forby), fountit in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association, i the governin body fur the professional competeetion. The amateur gemme (includin youth competeetion) is governed bi the International Billiards an Snooker Federation (IBSF). Events held specifically fur women an events fur seniors are handled bi warld Snooker unner warld Women's Snooker an the warld Seniors Tour, respectively.

Tournaments

Professional

Professional snooker players play on the Warld Snooker Tour. Events on the Tour are anly open tae players on the Tour an selected amateur players, but maist events require 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 School [de] 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. rankin points [en], 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.

File:Warld Snooker Championship Trophy edited.jpg
Warld Snooker Championship trophy

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 Matchroom Sport [en] chairman Barry Hearn [en]. The shot-timed Premier League Snooker [en] 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 Champion o Champions [en] 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 2019 Warld Team Trophy [en], featurin nine-ball 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 Steve Davis, 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 Rebecca Kenna [en] 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

Snooker 
Cue-tip chalk, cue, white chalk-buird chalk, an a slidin score-keeper

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 (12 ft × 6 ft [366 cm × 183 cm]) table i the size o the room (22 by 16 feet [6.7 m × 4.9 m]), 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 bawls an aw. Variant table sizes include 10 ft × 5 ft (305 cm × 152 cm), 9 ft × 4.5 ft (274 cm × 137 cm), 8 ft × 4 ft (244 cm × 122 cm), 6 ft × 3 ft (183 cm × 91 cm) (the smallest fur realistic play) an 4 ft × 2 ft (122 cm × 61 cm). 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 cm (11 feet 8.5 inches) bi 177.8 cm (5 feet 10 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 bawl 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 ball dependin on which direction the cue ball is shot an on whether left or right side (spin) is placed on the ball. Even if the cue bawl is hit in exactly the same wey, the nap will cause a different effect dependin on whether the bawl is hit doun table (towards the black ball 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 Fred Davis [en]. 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 1940 Warld Snooker Championship [en] 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

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

  • Gadsby, Paul; Williams, Luke (2012). Snooker's warld Champions: Masters of the Baize. Random House. ISBN 978-1-78057-715-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Snooker 
Wiktionar
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