English billiards , called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies , is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool . Two cue balls (one white and one yellow) and a red object ball are used. Each player or team uses a different cue ball. It is played on a billiards table with the same dimensions as one used for snooker and points are scored for cannons and pocketing the balls.
183-489: The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker . It is also the richest, with total prize money of £2,395,000 in 2023 , including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 , it is now one of the three tournaments (together with the UK Championship and the invitational Masters ) that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series . The reigning world champion
366-407: A lag , where both simultaneously hit a cue ball up the table, bouncing it off the top cushion so that it returns to baulk (the first quarter-length of the table). The player who gets their ball closer to the baulk cushion can now choose which cue ball they want to use during the game and to break or let the opponent break. The red ball is placed on the spot at the top of
549-421: A " re-spotted black ". The black ball is returned to its designated spot and the cue ball is played in-hand , 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
732-512: A "cue"), not less than 3 ft (91.4 cm) in length, which is used to strike the cue ball. The tip of the cue must only make contact with the cue ball and is never used for striking any of the reds or colours directly. Snooker accessories include: chalk for the tip of the cue, to help apply spin on the cue ball; various different rests such as the swan or spider , for playing shots that are difficult to play by hand; extensions for lengthening
915-426: A 155 break, achieved by nominating the free ball as an extra red, then potting the black as the additional colour after potting the free-ball red, followed by the fifteen reds with blacks, and finally the colours. Jamie Cope was the first player to achieve a verified 155 break during a practice frame in 2005. One game of snooker is called a "frame", and a snooker match generally consists of
1098-570: A break of 99, missing out on his century after he snookered himself. There were five entries in 1933 , with debutant Willie Smith meeting Davis in the final, but lost 18–25. There were just two entries in 1934 , Davis being opposed by Tom Newman, six times World Billiards Champion. The match was held partly in Nottingham before finishing in Kettering , with Davis winning 25–22. The 1935 Championship introduced some significant changes. It
1281-456: A break of fifty-eight to clinch the title. Fergal O'Brien made a century in his first frame at the Crucible, the only player ever to do so. In 1995, Hendry and White met in the semi-finals, where Hendry won again, making a maximum break during the match. In the other semi-final Nigel Bond beat unseeded Andy Hicks . The final was initially close until Hendry won nine frames in a row to take
1464-505: A change in format, with the tournament played over two weeks at a single venue rather than over an extended period. Sixteen played in the first round, the eight winners playing eight seeded players in the second round. In the semi-finals, defending champion Alex Higgins lost 9–23 to Eddie Charlton while Ray Reardon beat John Spencer 23–22. In the five-day final Charlton led 7–0 after the opening session but Reardon led 17–13 after two days. The match continued to be close but Reardon pulled ahead on
1647-672: A dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC). The PBPA held an unofficial alternative, the World Professional Match-play Championship , between 1952 and 1957. The official championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964. The World Snooker Championship reverted to a knockout tournament format in 1969 , beginning what
1830-461: A foul. 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
2013-409: 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
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#17327728533812196-668: 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. In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertising led to a reduction in the number of professional tournaments, which decreased from twenty-two events in 1999 to fifteen in 2003. The sport had become more popular in Asia with
2379-406: A minimum of four penalty points unless a higher-value object ball is involved in the foul, up to a maximum of seven penalty points where the black ball is concerned. 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
2562-412: A part of the original rules. Each ball has a diameter of 2 + 1 ⁄ 16 inches (52.5 mm). At the start of the game, the red balls are racked into a tightly packed equilateral triangle , and the colours are positioned at designated spots on the table. The cue ball is placed inside the "D" ready for the break-off shot. Each player has a snooker cue (or simply
2745-447: 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 sessions of play held over two days. Some early world finals had much longer matches, such as
2928-518: A professional sport within ten years. In the same year, promoter Barry Hearn gained a controlling interest in the World Snooker Tour , pledging to revitalise the "moribund" professional game. Over the following decade, the number of professional tournaments increased, with 44 events held in the 2019–20 season . Snooker tournaments were adapted to make them more suitable for television audiences, with some tournaments being played over
3111-408: A record which was equalled in 2012 and 2024. James Wattana , from Thailand made history in 1993 - becoming the first Asian player to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Jimmy White. The final was one-sided, with Stephen Hendry beating White 18–5 with a session to spare, the last time (as of 2023) that the final has been won without needing a fourth session. Total prize money reached £1,000,000 for
3294-403: A rectangular playing surface measuring 11 ft 8.5 in × 5 ft 10.0 in (356.9 cm × 177.8 cm). The playing surface is surrounded by small cushions along each side of the table. The height of the table from the floor to the top of the cushions is 2 ft 10.0 in (86.4 cm). The table has six pockets : one at each corner and one at
3477-456: A red ball constitutes a foul , which results in penalty points being awarded to the opponent. 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. If the cue ball finishes in contact with an object ball, a touching ball is called; the player must then play away from that ball without moving it, otherwise
3660-461: A row to win 17–15. In the final, Williams met fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens . Stevens led 13–7 but Williams made another comeback to win 18–16, becoming the first left-handed champion. 2000 was the first time (and, as of 2023 the only occasion) where the final was contested by two Welsh players. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first world championship in 2001 , defeating John Higgins 18–14 in the final. O'Sullivan led 14–7 before Higgins won four frames in
3843-466: A row. O'Sullivan looked likely to win the title in the 31st frame as he led 17–13 and 69–6, however he missed a red in the middle pocket and Higgins won the frame with a break of 65. Higgins made a break of 45 in frame 32 but O'Sullivan then made an 80 break to take the title. Stephen Hendry beat defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–13 in the semi-final of the 2002 Championship , Hendry reaching his ninth final. Peter Ebdon beat Matthew Stevens 17–16 in
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#17327728533814026-609: 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. Players on the World Snooker Tour generally gain a two-year "tour card" for participation in the events. Beginning in the 2014–15 season , some players have also received invitational tour cards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to
4209-421: A series of timed tournaments: the shot-timed 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 . The players had twenty-five seconds to take each shot, with each player allowed five time-outs per match. The format did achieve some success but was not afforded the same amount of press attention or status as
4392-634: A shortened duration, or the Snooker Shoot Out , which is a timed, one- frame competition. The prize money for professional events increased, with the top players earning several million pounds over the course of their careers. During the COVID-19 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
4575-572: A significant public funding opportunity for the sport and boost its global exposure. 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 and carom billiards . Snooker has been contested at the World Games since 2001 and was included as an event at the 2019 African Games . Several players, including Ronnie O'Sullivan , Mark Allen and Steve Davis, have claimed that there are too many tournaments in
4758-415: A snooker table is usually a form of tightly woven woollen green baize , with a directional nap that runs lengthwise from the baulk end of the table to the far end near the black ball spot . The nap affects the speed and trajectory of the balls, depending on the direction of the shot and whether any side spin is placed on the ball. Even if the cue ball is struck in precisely
4941-415: A two-year rolling points system, where points are allocated to the players according to the prize money earned at designated tournaments. 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, "one-year" and "two-year" ranking lists are compiled at
5124-636: A winning 73–37 position early on the tenth day. Having boycotted the official championship, the PBPA established their own championship called the PBPA Snooker Championship which attracted ten entries. Fred Davis and Donaldson were given byes to the semi-final stage, and met again in the final, held at the Blackpool Tower Circus, as Davis won 38–35. A second such championship was played the following year, referred to as
5307-448: Is Kyren Wilson . Joe Davis dominated the tournament over its first two decades, winning the first 15 world championships before he retired undefeated after his final victory in 1946 . The distinctive World Championship trophy, topped by a Greek shepherdess figurine, was acquired by Davis in 1926 for £19 and continues in use to this day. No tournaments were held between 1941 and 1945 due to World War II , or between 1952 and 1963 due to
5490-468: Is also available to non-professional 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 , the short-lived " snooker plus " and the more recent Snooker Shoot Out version. Snooker originated in the second half of the 19th century in India during
5673-542: Is considered to be the second most important ranking tournament after the World Championship. These two events, and the annual non-ranking Masters tournament, make up snooker's Triple Crown Series; among the oldest competitions on the professional circuit, the Triple Crown events are valued by many players as the most prestigious. As of April 2024 , only eleven players have won all three events,
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5856-405: Is disappointing and unacceptable that in 2019 that [ sic ] players such as Rebecca Kenna have been the victim of antiquated discriminatory practices." The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Snooker said, "The group believes that being prevented from playing in a club because of gender is archaic." After the creation of the World Snooker Championship, snooker overtook billiards as
6039-629: Is dying right in front of our eyes", 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. Non-professional snooker (including youth competition) is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). The highest level competition in the amateur sport is the IBSF World Snooker Championship. Events held specifically for seniors are handled by
6222-409: Is not made with any ball, this is a miss; 2 points are awarded to the opponent, who must play from where the balls have come to rest. If an opponent's cue ball is potted, it remains off the table until it is that opponent's turn to play, when it is returned to that player, who may play it in-hand from the "D". There is one exception to this rule: if the non-striker's ball is off the table as a result of
6405-565: Is now known as snooker's modern era. It has taken place annually since then, with every championship since 1977 staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield . Under a format that has remained largely unchanged since 1982 , 32 players reach the Crucible each year; the top 16 players in the world rankings qualify automatically, while another 16 players win places through a qualification tournament. Only three qualifiers have ever won
6588-527: Is the oldest snooker competition still being played in the world. 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
6771-484: Is the only player to have made 1,000 career century breaks , and he holds the record for the most maximum breaks compiled in professional competition, having achieved his 15th in October 2018. O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most ranking titles (41) and most Triple Crown titles (23) achieved in the sport. Some versions of snooker, such as six-red or ten-red snooker , are played with almost identical rules to
6954-415: Is the youngest champion in the tournament's history, winning his first title in 1990 aged 21 years and 106 days. O'Sullivan became the oldest champion in 2022 when he won his seventh title aged 46 years and 148 days. O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most Crucible appearances with 32, having taken part in the tournament every year between 1993 and 2024 . Fourteen maximum breaks have been made in
7137-465: The object balls are positioned on the table as shown in illustration A. Starting with the cue ball in the "D", the first player executes a break-off shot by striking the cue ball with the tip of their cue, aiming to hit any of the red balls in the triangular pack . The players then take alternating turns at playing shots, with the aim of potting a red ball into a pocket and thereby scoring one point. Failure to make contact with
7320-466: The 1931 championship . Davis and Tom Dennis met for the fourth time, the event being played in Nottingham. Dennis led 19–16 at one stage, but Davis won nine of the next eleven frames to take the Championship 25–21. There were three entries for the 1932 tournament . Clark McConachy met Davis in the final, played at Thurston's Hall. Davis took the title after a 30–19 win, and set a new record with
7503-399: The 1947 World Snooker Championship , which was played over the best of 145 frames. 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
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7686-438: The 1947 championship , Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson , agreed to delay the final until the autumn so that it could be played at the rebuilt Thurston's Hall. Donaldson got off to a good start, leading 44–28 after the first week and eventually took a winning 73–49 lead early on the 11th day. The pair met again in the 1948 final , Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson again reached the final, with Davis winning 73–49. They also contested
7869-406: The 1949 final, and although Donaldson led 39–33 after the first week, Davis pulled ahead on the second week and eventually took a winning 73–58 lead. After three finals at Leicester Square Hall the 1950 final moved to Blackpool Tower Circus . Fred Davis and Donaldson met in the final for the next two years, with Donaldson winning in 1950, 49–42, and Davis in 1951 . Following a dispute between
8052-474: The 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship , with the same finalists. Played at Leicester Square Hall , it was tied at 33–33 at the start of the final session but Davis won 37–34. The pair met in the 1954 final, held in Manchester , their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the eight finals, Davis taking a winning 36–15 lead early on the fifth day. Fred Davis met John Pulman in
8235-613: The 1955 final at Blackpool Tower Circus, with Davis winning 38–35. Davis defeated Pulman again in the 1956 final , but did not enter the 1957 championship . Pulman defeated Jackie Rea in the final to win his first world title. With the approval of the BACC, the championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964 . The first contest was played in Burroughes Hall, London in April 1964 between Pulman and Davis, with Pulman retaining
8418-483: The 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament , this variant failed to gain popularity and is no longer played. Power Snooker was a short-lived 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. Using nine red balls racked in a diamond-shaped pack at
8601-523: The Billiards Association and Control Club (BA&CC) and a new, standardised set of rules for snooker was first established in 1919. The possibility of a drawn game was abolished by the use of a re-spotted black as a tiebreaker. These early rules are similar to those used in the modern game, although rules for a minimal point penalty were imposed later. Played in 1926 and 1927, the first World Snooker Championship —then known as
8784-640: The British Raj . In the 1870s, billiards was popular among British Army officers stationed in Jubbulpore , India, and several variations of the game were devised during this time. A similar game, which originated at the Officers' Mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875, combined the rules of two pool games: pyramids , played with 15 red balls positioned in a triangle, and black pool , which involved potting designated balls. Snooker
8967-664: The IBSF World Snooker Championship , was founded in 1963, and the official world championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964. 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. The BBC had first launched its colour television service in July 1967; in 1969, David Attenborough , then
9150-464: The Players Series , use the one-year ranking list to qualify; these use the results of the current season to denote participants. There are approximately 128 places available on the World Snooker Tour each season. 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
9333-640: The Professional Championship of Snooker —was won by Joe Davis . The Women's Professional Snooker Championship (now the World Women's Snooker Championship ) was created in 1934 for top female players. Davis, himself a professional English billiards and snooker player, raised the game from a recreational pastime to a professional sporting activity. He retired from the world championships in 1946, having won all fifteen tournaments held up to that date. Snooker declined in popularity in
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#17327728533819516-495: 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
9699-579: 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
9882-426: The " class of '92 ": Ronnie O'Sullivan won five times in this period, John Higgins three times and Mark Williams twice. Higgins had also won in 1998; Williams would win again in 2018 and O'Sullivan went on to win in 2020 and 2022. In 2000 Stephen Hendry was beaten 10–7 in the first round by Crucible debutant Stuart Bingham . In his semi-final, Mark Williams trailed 11–15 to John Higgins but took six frames in
10065-414: The 11th World Snooker Champion since 1927. He won six world titles altogether (in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1987–1989) and competed in the most-watched snooker match, the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, which he lost to Dennis Taylor. 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. He dominated
10248-538: The British sporting world. By the mid-20th century, the principal sanctioning body was the Billiards Association and Control Council (later the Billiards and Snooker Control Council), formed in 1919 by an amalgamation of the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Club (founded in 1908). In the 19th century and up through the mid-1950s, a common way for championship titles to change hands
10431-489: The Davis brothers meeting in the final. Joe led 15–10 but then Fred won eleven frames in succession to lead 21–15. On the final day Joe made a 101 break to take a winning 37–35 lead. The spectators cheered for nearly a minute when Joe made his century. In October 1940, during The Blitz , Thurston's Hall was destroyed by a parachute mine which demolished the south-western corner of Leicester Square. No tournaments were played during
10614-566: 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 . Many gentlemen's clubs with a snooker table would refuse entry to non-members who wished to go in and play snooker; to cater for the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker clubs were formed. The Billiards Association (formed in 1885) and the Billiards Control Club (formed in 1908) merged to form
10797-400: The Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), members of the PBPA boycotted the 1952 championship . The BACC thought the championship should be primarily a matter of honour, and financial considerations should come second. As a consequence of the boycott there were only two entries, Lindrum and McConachy. McConachy had played in
10980-821: The UK, the European Masters in Fürth and the German Masters in Berlin, while lucrative Chinese events remained off the calendar. Snooker referees are an integral part of the sport, and some have become well-known 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. Since 2000, non-British and female referees have become more prominent in
11163-679: The WPBSA submitted a bid for snooker to be included at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics , but without success. 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. Their initial bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics was unsuccessful, but the WSF is campaigning for snooker to be included at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics . Olympic status would create
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#173277285338111346-687: The WPBSA under the World Seniors Tour , the highest level of the senior sport being the World Seniors Championship . 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. The most prestigious amateur event in England is the English Amateur Championship ; first held in 1916, this
11529-532: The World Championship in 1953 (after the boycott of the 1952 event by British professionals), the World Professional Match-play Championship became the unofficial world championship. Fred Davis won the tournament every year from 1952 to 1956 but did not enter the 1957 event. 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
11712-463: The World Championship was being contested at irregular intervals on a challenge basis. Pulman's winning streak ended when the tournament reverted to a knockout format in 1968. 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). Steve Davis (no relation to Joe or Fred) won his first World Championship in 1981, becoming
11895-429: 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
12078-584: The World Women's Snooker Championship in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. Some leagues have allowed clubs to exclude female players from tournaments. 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 men-only policies] we would lose four teams and we can't afford to lose four teams otherwise we would have no league." A World Women's Snooker spokesperson commented, "It
12261-414: The ascending order of their values, from lowest to highest, i.e. yellow first (worth 2 points), then green (3 points), brown (4 points), blue (5 points), pink (6 points), and finally black (7 points); at this stage of the game, each colour remains in the pocket after being potted. When the final ball is potted, the player who has accumulated the most points wins
12444-417: The balls must be respotted: red on its spot and opponent's ball in the centre spot, with the striker to play from in-hand. Matches held under professional regulations include a rule forcing the player to execute a shot in a way to have his cue ball cross the baulk line, heading towards the baulk cushion, once between 80 and 99 points in every 100 in a running break. If a foul occurs, two points are awarded to
12627-423: The balls to their previous positions after the " miss " rule has been invoked (see Scoring below), and cleaning the cue ball or any object ball upon request by the striker. 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 " re-rack ") and
12810-411: The career of a professional player. 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. As of 15 April 2024, there have been 202 officially confirmed maximum breaks achieved in professional competition. Penalty points are awarded to a player when their opponent commits
12993-831: The centre of each of the two longer side cushions. One drawback of using a full-size 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 22 ft × 16 ft (6.7 m × 4.9 m). While pool tables are common to many pubs , snooker tends to be played either in private settings or in public snooker halls . The game can also be played on smaller tables, with variant table sizes including 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), and 6 ft × 3 ft (183 cm × 91 cm). The cloth on
13176-514: The championship after winning 19–16. Pulman won two further challenge matches played at Burroughes Hall, beating Rex Williams in October 1964, and Davis again in March 1965. In late 1965 Pulman and Rex Williams played a long series of short matches in South Africa. Pulman won twenty-five of the forty-seven matches to retain the title. Williams set a new championship record with a break of 142 in
13359-422: The championship record set by Rex Williams in South Africa in 1965. In the 1980 championship , the number of participants was extended to twenty-four players. Those seeded from nine to sixteen each met a qualifier in the first round, the winner meeting one of the top eight seeds in the second round. Several changes were made to accommodate the extra matches, including a reduction in the number of frames played in
13542-478: The championship was sponsored by tobacco company Embassy from 1976 to 2005 and has since been sponsored by various betting companies after the introduction of an EU-wide ban on the advertising of tobacco products. The World Championship is the most highly valued title in professional snooker, in terms of financial reward (the tournament has carried a £500,000 winner's prize since 2019), ranking points and prestige. The UK Championship , held annually since 1977,
13725-420: The chance to win a seventh world title. Cliff Thorburn made the first maximum break of the World Championship in 1983 during his second-round match against Terry Griffiths . The importance of this achievement at the time is demonstrated by the fact that play was stopped on the other table. This was the break that gave the World Championship one of its most iconic words of commentary, "oh, good luck mate" on
13908-512: 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 multi-coloured balls provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of the new broadcasting technology. The series became a ratings success and was, for a time, the second-most popular show on BBC2 after Morecambe and Wise . Due to these developments,
14091-414: The cue; a triangle for racking the reds; and a scoreboard , typically attached to a wall near the snooker table. A traditional snooker scoreboard resembles an abacus and records the points 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". Each segment of
14274-409: 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
14457-508: The emergence of players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu , 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. 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
14640-529: The end of every season, after the World Championship; these year-end lists are used for pre-qualification at certain tournaments and for tour-card guarantees. The top 16 players in the world ranking list, generally regarded as the "elite" of the professional snooker circuit, are not required to pre-qualify for some of the tournaments, such as the Shanghai Masters , the Masters and the World Snooker Championship. Certain other events, such as those in
14823-403: The entrance charges. Because of the importance of gate receipts, all frames were played out, even if a player had already won the match. There were five entries in 1935 Championship . Joe Davis beat Willie Smith 28–21 in the final. Davis recorded the first century break in the history of the championship, 110 in his semi-final match against Tom Newman . The break was made in a dead frame but
15006-584: The final afternoon session and clinched the match by winning the first frame in the evening with a ninety-seven break. Spencer and another of the new professionals, Gary Owen , met in the final at the Victoria Halls in London. Spencer won the seventy-three frame final 37–24. Spencer lost to Ray Reardon at the semi-final stage of the 1970 Championship . Reardon went on to win the final against John Pulman to win his first title. The next world championship
15189-421: The final black, courtesy of Jack Karnehm . Thorburn beat Griffiths in a final-frame decider, a match that finished at 03:51, the latest-ever finish for a match at the Crucible. Thorburn then also won his quarter-final and semi-final matches in the deciding frame; exhausted, and deflated by the news that his wife had suffered a miscarriage, he faced a one-sided final against Steve Davis who won 18–6. The 1984 final
15372-398: The final day to win 38–32, for his second title. The 1974 Championship followed a similar format but with somewhat shorter matches and event reduced to ten days. Sixty-year-old Fred Davis beat Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals before losing to Ray Reardon. Reardon met Graham Miles in the three-day final. Reardon led 17–11 after two days and won comfortably 22–12. The 1975 Championship
15555-536: The final day, leading 73–62. Davis made six centuries in the final, setting new championship records of 133 and 136. The event proved a financial success for the players, with Davis receiving £1,800 and Lindrum £550. In October 1946, Joe Davis announced that he would no longer play in the World Championship, having never lost a match in the championship from its inception in 1927. He did not, in any other sense, retire from snooker, continuing to play in other tournaments and exhibition matches for many years. The finalists for
15738-402: The final he beat Mark Williams 18–11. In the semi-final between Hendry and O'Sullivan each player made four century breaks including a run of four centuries in four consecutive frames, two by each player. The eight centuries were a record for a world championship match. The period from 2000 to 2013 was dominated by three players, who were all born in 1975 and turned professional in 1992, dubbed
15921-484: The final stages, a new record. Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in snooker history in 1997 - in the first round of the championship - taking just five minutes and eight seconds. The final was between Stephen Hendry and Irishman Ken Doherty . Doherty led 15–7 before Hendry won five frames in a row. Doherty then won the next three frames to win 18–12, ending Hendry's winning run of twenty-nine consecutive matches. In 1998, Stephen Hendry lost to Jimmy White in
16104-513: The final stroke of the non-striker’s last turn. If the striker then makes 15 consecutive hazards, the non-striker's ball is spotted, after the fifteenth hazard, in the Middle of the Baulk-line or, if that spot is occupied, on the right-hand corner of the “D”, as viewed from baulk. It becomes a "line ball" and may not be played directly from baulk. If the cue ball is touching an object ball, then
16287-419: The final, and led 17–13 at the half-way stage, but Davis recovered to win the match 32–29. Davis made a break of 103 in the final, the first championship century in live play. Lindrum chose not to enter the 1938 event , which Davis also won, beating Sidney Smith in the final. The following year, Davis met Smith again in the final, and took a winning 37–25 lead on the final day. The 1940 Championship featured
16470-456: The final, played in Dennis's home town of Nottingham . Davis made a new record break of 61, on the way to a 19–14 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final , played for the first time at Thurston's Hall in London, with Davis winning 25–12, with a day to spare and made a new record break of 79. With little prospect of success and little prospect of financial gain, there were only two entries for
16653-414: The final, to a maximum of thirty-five. Cliff Thorburn met Alex Higgins in the final. The match was level at 9–9 after the first day and again at 13–13 after the afternoon session on the second day. During the evening session, the score was tied once again at 16–16, before Thorburn made a 119 clearance in frame thirty-three and a break of fifty-one in frame thirty-four to win the championship. Despite being
16836-435: The final. Prize money peaked in 2003 with the winner receiving a record £270,000 and the thirty-two Crucible players getting at least £15,000. Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fifth maximum break in the World Championship during his first round match against Marco Fu becoming the first player to score two 147s in the event; however O'Sullivan was defeated 10–6, becoming the first player to make a maximum break and then go on to lose
17019-452: The first day and won the first five frames on the second day to win the match 18–3.As of 2023, Davis' victory in 1989 is the biggest winning margin in a World Championship final and one of only three occasions where the final has been won on the Sunday afternoon, with a session to spare. Davis won £105,000 for his 1989 victory, a new record. In 1990, Steve Davis failed to reach the final for
17202-430: The first round of the championship. Doherty reached the final again meeting 22-year-old John Higgins . Higgins won 18–12, making five centuries in the final. In total there were fifty-nine centuries during the tournament of which Higgins made fourteen, both records. Stephen Hendry won his seventh and final world title at the 1999 tournament , the most in the modern era until being equalled by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2022. In
17385-490: The first time since 1982, losing in the semi-finals 14–16 to Jimmy White . Davis’ seven consecutive crucible finals to this day has yet to be equalled. In the final Stephen Hendry beat White 18–12 becoming, at 21 years, 106 days, the youngest ever world champion. Hendry was the number one seed in the 1991 tournament, but lost in the quarter-finals to Steve James . The final was between John Parrott and Jimmy White, Parrott winning 18–11. In 1992, Jimmy White became
17568-422: The first time. Jimmy White reached his sixth final in 1994, meeting Stephen Hendry for the fourth time. Hendry led 5–1 but White won six frames in a row to lead 7–5. Thereafter the match was always close and eventually went to a final frame. In the deciding frame, White had the first opportunity to finally win the title that had eluded him but missed a black off the spot when among the balls, after which Hendry made
17751-458: The first year of a two-year 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. The oldest current professional snooker tournament is the World Snooker Championship , which has taken place as an annual event most years since 1927. Hosted at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield since 1977,
17934-472: The foul shot. 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
18117-413: The frame is restarted, with the same player taking the break-off shot as in the abandoned frame. Professional players usually play the game in a sporting manner, declaring fouls they have committed that the referee has not noticed, acknowledging good shots from their opponent, and holding up a hand to apologise for a fortunate shot (known as a " fluke "). Points in snooker are gained from potting
18300-406: The frame. 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 concession is a common occurrence in professional snooker. However, players will often play on even when there are not enough points available for them to win, in
18483-510: The game's longest-running champion was an Australian, Walter Lindrum , who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. The game remains popular in the UK, although it has been eclipsed by snooker . The first governing body of the game, the Billiards Association , was formed in the UK in 1885, a period that saw a number of sporting bodies founded across
18666-517: The history of the tournament, Cliff Thorburn compiled the first in 1983 , and Mark Selby the most recent in 2023, which was the first maximum break in a World Championship final. A record 109 century breaks were made at the Crucible in 2022. As of 2024, 28 players have won the World Snooker Championship. The first championship was held in 1927 , where it was known as the Professional Snooker Championship . It
18849-411: The hope of laying one or more " snookers " to force their opponent into playing foul shots. Snookers are shots designed to make it difficult for the opponent to play a legal shot on their next turn, such as leaving another ball between the cue ball and the object ball. If the scores are equal when all object balls have been potted, the black is used as a tiebreaker in a situation called
19032-416: 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. 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
19215-408: The last day. However Davis won the last ten frames in a row to win 34–27. Qualifying was introduced for the first time in 1937 . As the event had nine entries, two players were chosen to play a qualification match. The two were Fred Davis , Joe's younger brother and Bill Withers . Withers won the match 17–14, a defeat that Fred put down to ignoring his worsening eyesight. Lindrum played Joe Davis in
19398-400: The last four frames to win 13–12. Johnson and Davis met again in the 1987 final although, on this occasion, Davis was the winner by a score of 18–14. Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths met in the 1988 final. The score was 8–8 after the first day but Davis pulled ahead on the final day and won 18–11. Davis made his seventh successive final in 1989 , meeting John Parrott . Davis led 13–3 after
19581-467: The late 1970s, with most of the major tournaments being televised. 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. As professional snooker grew as
19764-414: The match 18–12. At 23 years old, Davis was the second-youngest champion. Mountjoy set a new championship record with a highest break of 145 during his semi-final match against Ray Reardon . The 1982 championship was extended to thirty-two players with sixteen seeded players and sixteen qualifiers. There was a surprise in the first round when Tony Knowles beat defending champion Steve Davis 10–1. In
19947-405: The match 37–28. For 1969 , the championship reverted to being run as a knockout tournament. This is regarded as the beginning of the modern era for snooker. Eight professionals entered, four from the 1950s and four new professionals. The first match, played in late 1968, saw the end of John Pulman 's reign as champion, beaten by one of the new professionals, John Spencer . Spencer led 24–18 after
20130-409: The match. Snooker Snooker (pronounced UK : / ˈ s n uː k ər / SNOO -kər , US : / ˈ s n ʊ k ər / SNUUK -ər ) 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
20313-409: The middle and pyramid spots are occupied, it goes back on the spot. When potted from the middle or pyramid spot, it returns to the spot at the top of the table. After a losing hazard, play continues in-hand from the "D". When playing from in-hand, a striker must touch a ball or cushion out of baulk before striking a ball in baulk. If playing in-hand and all balls on the table are in baulk, and contact
20496-580: The more well-known game cowboy pool . English Billiards was virtually unknown in the United States until 1913, when Melbourn Inman visited the US and played the game against Willie Hoppe . By 1915 the game had become rather popular, prompting American billiard hall proprietors of the period to increase the number of English-style tables in their establishments. It also became favored in British colonies ;
20679-508: The most closely contested matches of all time. It finished at 00:19 and, with an audience of 18.5 million, it remains the most-watched programme in the history of BBC2 , and holds the record for a post-midnight audience for any channel in the United Kingdom. Davis met sixteenth seed Joe Johnson in the 1986 final. Johnson led 13–11 at the start of the evening session and won five of the first six frames to win 18–12. Johnson had trailed 9–12 in his quarter-final against Terry Griffiths but won
20862-542: The most popular cue sport in the United Kingdom. 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. During his entire professional career, Davis remained undefeated when playing on equal terms, although he did lose some matches in handicapped tournaments. He
21045-565: The most recent being Judd Trump who completed the Triple Crown in May 2019. The Triple Crown events are televised in the UK by the BBC, while most other tournaments are broadcast across Europe on the Eurosport network, or ITV Sport , as well as numerous other broadcasters internationally. After facing some criticism for matches taking too long, Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn introduced
21228-424: The number thirteen seed, Steve Davis was the favourite for the 1981 championship . He won a close match 10–8 against Jimmy White in the first round and defeated three past world champions to meet fourteenth seed Doug Mountjoy in the final. Davis won the first six frames but was only leading 10–8 at the end of the first day. He led 14–12 at the start of the final evening session and won the next four frames to win
21411-440: The object balls in the correct sequence. The total number of consecutive points (excluding fouls) that a player amasses during one visit to the table is known as a "break". 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
21594-432: The oldest World Champion, aged 45 years, 203 days. The first seven World Snooker Champions all won a championship when in their forties; the last of these was Reardon. It would be another forty years before a quadragenarian won the title again, as Mark Williams won the 2018 championship aged forty-three. The 1979 championship was won by Terry Griffiths who had only turned professional seven months prior to
21777-464: The opponent's ball, considered a foul , added one point to the opponent's total; the shooter conceded two points if their own ball went into a pocket after striking the opponent's ball; and the player conceded three points if the cue ball was pocketed without even hitting the opponent's ball. These rules continued to exist in English billiards until 1983, when a standard of two points for all fouls
21960-465: The opposing player or team. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points, and a snooker match 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 well-established derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or first-year military personnel. In
22143-496: The other semi-final. Stevens led 16–14 but Ebdon won the last three frames, including a 138 total clearance in the penultimate frame. The final went to the deciding frame where Ebdon made a break of 59 and clinched the title. There were a record sixty-eight centuries in the tournament, including a record sixteen by Stephen Hendry who made five centuries in the semi-final and a further four in the final. Mark Williams won his second World title in 2003 by defeating Ken Doherty 18–16 in
22326-422: The player has been awarded a free ball , which allows them to nominate another object ball in place of a red. 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. The game continues until all 15 red balls have been potted and only the 6 colours and the cue ball are left on the table. The colours must next be potted in
22509-400: The player who could strike a ball at one end of the table and get the ball to come to rest nearest the opposite cushion without lying against it earned the right to shoot for points first. This is the origin of the modern custom of " stringing " (or " lagging "). A player who pocketed the opponent's ball scored two points, as is still the case in modern billiards. A player missing
22692-446: The player will concede penalty points. When a red ball has entered a pocket, the striker must then choose a coloured ball (or "colour") and attempt to pot it. 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. The player must then pot another red ball followed by another colour. The process of alternately potting reds and colours continues until
22875-402: The pockets, and the goal was to cannon off both the red and the opponent's ball on a single shot, earning 2 points. This influence on the English game appears to have come about through the popularity of French tables in English coffee houses; London alone had over two thousand such establishments in the early 18th century. One period advertisement read: "A very good French Billiard Table, little
23058-453: The post-war era; the 1952 World Snooker Championship was contested by only two players and was replaced by the World Professional Match-play Championship , which was also discontinued in 1957. 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 short-lived. A world championship for top amateur players, now known as
23241-451: The professional sport of snooker. World Snooker Ltd is responsible for the professional tour which is owned by both the WPBSA and Matchroom Sport . 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. The current world rankings are determined using
23424-442: The professional tour in the 2010–11 season and upgraded to a ranking event in 2017 . 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. Introduced at
23607-496: The qualifying rounds of the main World Snooker Championship on five occasions, reaching the second round in 2017. Evans holds the record for the highest break made in WWS competition, having achieved a 140 break twice (in 2008 and 2010). 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
23790-455: The quarter-finals, and met Canadian Cliff Thorburn in the final. The two players were closely matched throughout, the score being tied at 9–9 after the first day and 18–18 after the second. Spencer led 22–20 after the first session on the final day, and pulled ahead to win 25–21 in the final session of the match. Defending champion John Spencer lost to Perrie Mans in the first round of the 1978 championship . The 1977 runner-up Cliff Thorburn
23973-537: The recent News of the World Tournament but had performed badly, losing all eight of his matches. Although Lindrum did not play in the News of the World Tournament, he had been receiving more generous starts in recent handicap tournaments and had even withdrawn from the 1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament in 1950, complaining about his overly generous handicap. Lindrum won the championship, reaching
24156-637: The regular ranking tournaments. The event was removed from the professional tour after the 2012–13 season, when the Champion of Champions was re-established; players qualify for this tournament by virtue of winning other events in the season, with sixteen champions competing. Classified as a "precision sport" by the International Olympic Committee , snooker has never been contested at the Summer Olympics . In 2015,
24339-418: The remainder of World War II. The championship resumed in 1946 where Joe Davis again met Lindrum in the final. The Royal Horticultural Hall in London was converted to a snooker venue, seating 1,250 for the championships. The match was extended from one week to two, allowing up to 30,000 spectators to be accommodated with prices ranging from 5s to £3. Davis maintained a small lead throughout and won, early on
24522-444: The same equipment for both games and play the game to practise ball control. There are three balls. They are the same size as snooker balls (52.5 mm or 2 + 1 ⁄ 16 in with a tolerance of 0.05 mm) and they must weigh the same to a tolerance of 0.5 g within a set. The balls are designated as: The billiard table used has the same dimensions as in snooker, and in many venues, both games are played on
24705-433: The same equipment. The playing area of a standard tournament table measures 11 feet 8 inches by 5 ft 10 in (3.569 m by 1.778 m) with a tolerance of 1 ⁄ 2 inch (1.26 cm) in both directions, though smaller ones, down to half size, are often found in snooker halls , pubs and home billiard rooms . To see who will be the starting player, players perform
24888-403: The same manner, the effect of the nap will differ according to whether the ball is directed towards the baulk line or towards the opposite end of the table. A snooker ball set consists of 22 unmarked balls: 15 reds , 6 coloured balls , and 1 white cue ball. The colours are one each of yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black, although the brown and blue balls were not
25071-431: The score from 5–5 to 14–5. Hendry eventually won 18–9. Hendry made a record twelve century breaks during the tournament. The 1996 tournament saw Peter Ebdon reach the final, beating Jimmy White, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan on the way. He met Stephen Hendry in the final. Ebdon led 4–2 in the early stages but Hendry eventually won 18–12 to win his fifth successive title. There were forty-eight century breaks during
25254-410: The season, causing burnout of players. 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. He suggested that a "breakaway tour" with fewer events would be beneficial to
25437-451: The second half of the 19th century, the game is played with 22 balls, comprising a white cue ball , 15 red balls and 6 other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black—collectively called ' the colours '. Using a snooker cue , the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each foul committed by
25620-465: The second player to make a maximum break in the world championship, during his 10–4 first round win over Tony Drago . Defending champion John Parrott beat Eddie Charlton 10–0, the first of only two whitewashes in the Crucible era (the second being by Shaun Murphy over Luo Honghao in 2019). Stephen Hendry met Jimmy White in the final. White led 14–8 but Hendry won ten frames in a row to win 18–14. Eight seeded players were knocked out in round one in 1992,
25803-403: The semi-finals Jimmy White was ahead 15–14, and led 59–0 in the thirtieth frame, but missed an easy red with the rest. His opponent Alex Higgins then made a sixty-nine clearance and won the deciding frame and the match 16–15. Higgins met Ray Reardon in the final. The score was 15–15 before Higgins won three frames in a row to win the championship, finishing with a clearance of 135, denying Reardon
25986-444: The six-day final 37–29. 1972 saw the emergence of Alex Higgins . Winning his two qualifying matches, he beat John Pulman, Rex Williams and then Spencer in the final to win the title at his first attempt. At 22 years, 345 days, Higgins was the youngest world champion. Previously only Joe Davis had won the title while under the age of 30, being 26 years, 27 days when he won in 1927. The 1973 Championship marked
26169-434: The sport and take part in high-level amateur competitions. The leading tournament on the women's tour is the World Women's Snooker Championship , the winner of which receives a two-year tour card to the main professional tour. Reanne Evans won the women's world title a record twelve times, including ten consecutive victories from 2005 to 2014 . She has also participated on the World Snooker Tour and has taken part in
26352-478: The sport through the 1990s, winning the World Championship seven times (in 1990, 1992–1996, and 1999). 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). 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), and Mark Williams three (in 2000, 2003 and 2018). O'Sullivan
26535-437: The sport, but none was organised. Some players, including 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy , have asserted that a 128-player professional tour is financially unsustainable. Lower-ranked professional players can struggle to make a living from the sport, especially after paying tournament entry fees, travel costs and other expenses. In 2023, Stephen Maguire criticised the World Snooker Tour and WPBSA, claiming that "the game
26718-523: The sport; Dutch referee Jan Verhaas became the first non-Briton to referee a World Championship final in 2003 , while Michaela Tabb became the first woman to do so in 2009 . Tabb was the only woman refereeing on the professional tour when she joined it in 2002, but tournaments now routinely feature female referees such as Desislava Bozhilova , Maike Kesseler , and Tatiana Woollaston . A standard full-size snooker table measures 12 ft × 6 ft (365.8 cm × 182.9 cm), with
26901-612: 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 . Some additional secondary tours have been contested over the years. A two-tier structure was adopted for the 1997–98 snooker season ; comprising six tournaments known as the WPBSA Minor Tour was open to all professionals, but only ran for one season. A similar secondary UK Tour
27084-534: The standard game but with fewer object balls, reducing the time taken to play each frame. The Six-red World Championship , which is contested annually in Bangkok , Thailand, has been a regular fixture on the World Snooker Tour since 2012 . A World Women's 10-Red Championship was held annually in Leeds, England, from 2017 to 2019. Geographic variations exist in the United States and Brazil, while speed versions of
27267-514: 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. With simplified rules and generally played on smaller tables, this variant dates back to 1925. 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
27450-408: The standard game. English billiards English billiards originated in England, and was originally called the winning and losing carambole game , folding in the names of three predecessor games, the winning game , the losing game , and an early form of carom billiards that combined to form it. The winning game was played with two white balls, and was a 12- point contest. To start,
27633-403: The standard of the tables. This was the first year the championship was sponsored under the cigarette brand Embassy . In 1977, the championship moved to its new home at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield , where it has remained ever since. The 1977 championship featured sixteen competitors: eight seeded players and eight qualifiers. John Spencer beat defending champion Ray Reardon 13–6 in
27816-429: The start of the game, or by which player is leading at the end of a timed game. If the red is potted it is respotted on the spot at the top of the table (the black spot). After the red has been potted twice off the spot in a row (i.e. without a cannon or losing hazard), it is respotted on the middle spot . If the middle spot is occupied, it goes on the pyramid spot (the pink spot in snooker). If both
27999-417: The start of the game, the matches were limited to a fixed game-play period of 30 minutes. 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
28182-410: The start of the game, the single red is positioned halfway between the pink ball and the side cushion, and the break-off shot cannot be used to pot the red or place the opponent in a snooker. 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
28365-409: 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. Points accumulated by potting successive object balls are called a " break " (see Scoring below). 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
28548-404: The string (bead) represents one point as the players can move one or several beads along the string. Additional accessories include cue tips of varying hardness to suit player preferences, anti-slip cue grips for better control, and specialized table brushes and cloths to maintain optimal table conditions. A player wins a frame by scoring more points than their opponent. At the start of a frame,
28731-437: The table (same as the black spot in snooker) and the first player begins by playing in-hand from the "D" behind the baulk line. The other cue ball remains off the table until the opponent's first turn, when they play in hand from the "D". The idea is to leave the balls safe by creating either a double baulk (both object balls in baulk), or the red in baulk with the cue-ball tight ( frozen ) to
28914-429: The top-side cushion. Points are awarded as follows: Combinations of the above may all be scored on the same shot. The most that can be scored in a single shot is therefore 10 – the red and the other cue ball are both potted via a cannon (the red must be struck first), and the cue ball is also potted, making a losing hazard off the red. The winner is determined by a player reaching a fixed number of points set at
29097-409: The tournament was sixty, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match. The 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other six entries playing-off for the right to challenge Davis in the final. Fred Lawrence progressed to the final, but lost 13–16. The challenge system was dropped in the 1929 event . Davis met Dennis in
29280-406: The tournament, and needed to win two qualifying matches to reach the Crucible. Griffiths was trailing 16–17 against Eddie Charlton in the semi-final, before eventually winning the match 19–17 at 1.40 am. He then beat Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, winning the record first prize of £10,000. Canadian Bill Werbeniuk made a break of 142 in his quarter-final match against John Virgo , equalling
29463-400: The tournament: Alex Higgins in 1972 , Terry Griffiths in 1979 , and Shaun Murphy in 2005 . Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan have each won seven times to jointly hold the record of most world titles in the modern era. Ray Reardon and Steve Davis have won six titles; John Higgins and Mark Selby four; John Spencer and Mark Williams three; and Alex Higgins two. Hendry
29646-426: The twelve frames on the second day to lead 16–8 but Charlton won the first nine frames on the third day to lead. Reardon then led 23–21 before Charlton won eight frames in a row to lead 29–23, needing just two of the last nine frames to win. However Reardon then won seven frames in a row to lead again and, although Charlton levelled the match at 30–30, Reardon won the deciding frame. The 1976 World Snooker Championship
29829-560: The twenty-fourth match. After this series of matches Pulman played the South African Fred Van Rensburg , winning 39 frames to 12. Davis and Pulman played again for the championship in April 1966. Pulman won four of the seven matches to retain the title. Australian Eddie Charlton challenged Pulman to a 73 frame match in Bolton , played in March 1968. Pulman led 19–17 at the half-way stage, and pulled ahead and won
30012-469: The word to deride the inferior performance of a young fellow officer at the table. The new game of snooker featured in an 1887 issue of the Sporting Life newspaper in England, which led to a growth in popularity. Chamberlain was revealed to be the inventor, 63 years after the fact, in a letter to The Field magazine published on 19 March 1938. Snooker became increasingly popular across
30195-551: The worse for wearing, full size, with all the materials fit for French or English play". The three ancestral games had their British heyday in the 1770s, but had combined into English billiards, with a 16-point score total, by approximately 1800. The skill required in playing these games helped retire the billiard mace in favour of the cue stick . There are a number of pocket billiard games directly descended from English billiards, including bull dog, scratch pool, thirty-one pool and thirty-eight. The last of these gave rise to
30378-504: The year 1969 is taken to mark the beginning of snooker's modern era. The World Snooker Championship moved in 1977 to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield , where it has been staged ever since, and the 1978 World Snooker Championship was the first to receive daily television coverage. Snooker quickly became a mainstream sport in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and much of the Commonwealth , and has remained consistently popular since
30561-616: Was also the first in which an English billiards challenge match was held in the United States. From 1870 to 1983 the champions were: William Cook , (1870, 1871–74); John Roberts Jr. , (1870, 1871, 1875–77, 1885); Joseph Bennett , (1870, 1880–81); Charles Dawson , (1899–1900, 1901, 1903); H. W. Stevenson , (1901, 1909–11); Melbourne Inman , (1908–09, 1912–19); Willie Smith , (1920, 1923); Tom Newman , (1921–22, 1924–27); Joe Davis , (1928–32); Walter Lindrum , (1933–50); Clark McConachy , (1951-68); Rex Williams , (1968–76, 1982–83); and Fred Davis , (1980). A "Women's Billiard Association"
30744-399: Was between Steve Davis and Jimmy White (in his first final). Davis led 12–4 after the first day but White won seven of the eight frames on the final afternoon. Davis led 16–12 at the evening interval and, despite a comeback from White, Davis won 18–16. In the 1985 final , also known as the black ball final, Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis 18–17 on the final ball of the final frame, in one of
30927-495: Was by a challenge match . A challenge was issued to a championship title holder accompanied by stake money held by a third party. Up until the first organised professional tournament in 1870, all English billiards champions were decided by challenge. The first champion was Jonathan Kentfield, who held the title from 1820 to 1849, losing it to John Roberts Sr. after Kentfield refused his challenge. Roberts's 21-year reign lasted until he lost to William Cook in 1870. That year
31110-454: Was defeated 12–13 in his quarter-final match against Eddie Charlton , who won the last five frames. However, Charlton then lost to Ray Reardon in the semi-finals; he was ahead 12–9 after the first three sessions of the match, but Reardon won all seven frames of the fourth session to win 18–14. Mans met sixty-four-year-old Fred Davis in the other semi-final, defeating him 18–16. Reardon won the final 25–18 to claim his sixth world title. He became
31293-542: 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. The global governing body for professional snooker is the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiards Players' Association. The WPBSA owns and publishes the official rules of snooker, and has overall responsibility for policy-making in
31476-489: Was formed in Britain in 1931. One of the founders was Teresa Billington-Greig who had been a leading suffragette and was then married to a billiard ball manufacturer. Over the course of the 20th century, English billiards was largely superseded as the favoured cue sport in the United Kingdom by snooker and the rise of English-style eight-ball pool . The game does retain some popularity amongst snooker players, who can use
31659-552: Was further developed in 1882 when its first set of rules was finalised by British Army officer Neville Chamberlain , 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. 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
31842-472: Was held at two venues; half the draw was held in Middlesbrough and half in Manchester , which also hosted the final. Alex Higgins won three close matches to reach the final, where he met Ray Reardon. Reardon led 24–15 at the start of the last day and, winning three of the first four frames, took the title 27–16, his fourth successive title. There were a number of problems during the tournament including
32025-530: Was held in Australia in late 1970. For the only time there was a group stage with nine players, with the top four moving on to a knock-out stage. Ray Reardon and John Spencer met in one semi-final with Spencer winning easily. The other semi-final was between two Australians, Warren Simpson and Eddie Charlton . Simpson caused a major upset by beating Charlton. In the final in Sydney, Spencer led throughout and won
32208-483: Was held in Australia. Twenty-seven players competed including eight from Australia, sixteen from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one from South Africa. Ray Reardon beat John Spencer and Alex Higgins to reach the final where he met Eddie Charlton. The final was held near Melbourne but matches were held in many locations, the semi-finals having been held in Canberra and Brisbane . In the final, Reardon won ten of
32391-488: Was introduced. By contrast, in the losing game a player could only score two points by pocketing the cue ball through a carom off the opponent's ball. " Winning hazard " and " losing hazard " are terms still mentioned in the official rules for these two fundamental shot types, although " pot " and " in-off " have become the usual terms for them in British English . The final element
32574-401: Was only ever beaten on level terms by his younger brother Fred Davis , but not until after he had retired from professional play. By 1947, Fred Davis was deemed by his older brother ready to become World Champion, but he lost that year's world final to Walter Donaldson . Davis and Donaldson contested the next four world finals, with Davis winning three of the four. With the abandonment of
32757-504: Was played as an added extra to the main event, a billiards match played over two weeks. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session. The final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames, and took a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, eventually winning 20–11. The highest break of
32940-416: Was still regarded as a championship record. The success of the 1935 championship resulted in a record 13 entries in 1936 . Joe Davis and Horace Lindrum met in the final, with Davis having won one of his prior matches 29–2 after taking a winning 16–0 lead; whilst Lindrum had won his semi-final by the same score, 29–2, In the final, Lindrum led 26–24 at the start of the final day and then won the first frame on
33123-400: Was the cannon (or carom ) shot, which came from carom billiards , a game popular in various countries of western Continental Europe , especially France, and in many parts of Asia and South America. In the 1700s, the carom game added a red object ball to the two white cue balls, and dispensed with the pockets. This ball was adopted into the English game, which retained
33306-445: Was the first professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916. Ten professionals entered including most of the leading English billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over twenty-three frames and final over 31 frames . The first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurston's Hall , Leicester Square in London. The snooker
33489-486: Was the first to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Professional Snooker Championship . There was also a change in the organisation of the event with the matches being played consecutively at the same venue, Thurston's Hall in London. In the period from 1935 to 1940, nearly all World Championship matches were played there and with good attendances the professionals could make some money from their share of
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