Snooker is a cue sport that is typically played on a table covered
with a green cloth or baize, with pockets at each of the four corners and in
the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular full-size table
measures 11 ft 81⁄2 in × 5 ft 10 in
(3569 mm x 1778 mm), commonly referred to as 12 × 6 ft.
The game is played using a cue and
22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and
six balls of different colours: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue
(5), pink (6) and black (7) The red balls are initially placed in a triangular
formation, and the other coloured balls on marked positions on the table known
as "spots". Players execute shots by striking the cue ball with the
cue, causing the cue ball to hit a red or coloured ball. Points are scored by
potting the red and coloured balls (knocking them into the pockets) in the
correct sequence. A player receives additional points if the opponent commits a
foul. A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring
more points than the opponent(s). A player wins a match when a predetermined
number of frames have been won.
Snooker, generally regarded as
having been invented in Jabalpur, India by British Army officers, is popular in
many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries, with top professional
players attaining multi-million-pound career earnings from the game. The sport
is now increasingly popular in China.Touring professional players compete
regularly around the world, the premier tournament being the World Championship,
held annually in Sheffield, England.
History
Illustration of a game of three ball
pocket billiards in early 19th-century Tübingen, Germany
Snooker in its modern form
originated in the latter half of the 19th century.Billiards had been a popular
activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on
the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation, devised in the
officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 or 1875,was to add coloured balls in
addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool.
The rules were formally finalised in 1884 by Sir Neville Chamberlain at Ootacamund.
The word snooker also has military origins, being a slang term for
first-year cadets or inexperienced personnel.One version of events states that
Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment (not the later Prime
Minister of the same name) was playing this new game when his opponent failed
to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a snooker. It thus became
attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players
were labelled as snookers.
Snooker grew in popularity in
England but generally it was still a game for the gentry, and many well
established gentleman clubs which had a billiards table would not allow
nonmembers inside to play. To accommodate the popularity of the game, smaller
and more open snooker-specific clubs started to be formed.
The game of snooker grew in the
later half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, and by 1927 the
first World Snooker Championship had been organised by Joe Davis who, as a
professional English billiards and snooker player, moved the game from a pastime
activity into a more professional sphere. Joe Davis won every world
championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through
the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played.
In 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game, known as snooker plus, to
try to improve the game's popularity by adding two extra colours. However, it
never caught on.
A major advance occurred in 1969,
when David Attenborough commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to
demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and
multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour
broadcasting. The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the
second most popular show on BBC Two. Interest in the game increased and the 1978
World Championship was the first to be fully televised. The game quickly became
a mainstream game in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has
enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments
being televised. In 1985 a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding
frame of the world championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis.
The loss of tobacco sponsorship during the 2000s led to a decrease in the
number of professional tournaments, although some new sponsors were sourced;
and the popularity of the game in the Far East and China, with emerging talents
such as Liang Wenbo and more established players such as Ding Junhui and Marco
Fu, boosted the sport in that part of the world.
In 2010, promoter Barry Hearn gained
a controlling interest in World Snooker Ltd, the professional sport's
commercial arm, pledging to revitalise the "moribund" professional
game. Under his direction, the number of professional tournaments has
increased, certain tournament formats have been changed in an attempt to
increase their appeal, and, as of 2013, total prize money had more than doubled
from £3m to more than £7m.
The
game
Snooker table with balls placed in
their starting positions. At the start of the game, the cue ball (white) may be
placed anywhere in the semicircle, known as the "D".
Game in progress on a half-size
table. A red ball about to be potted.
