Snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a sport played on a large green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regulation full size table must be 12 ft × 6 ft (3.7 m × 1.8 m). It is played using a cue and 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). A player (or team) wins a frame of snooker by scoring more points than their opponent, using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by potting object balls in a predefined order. At the start of a frame, the balls are positioned as shown and the players take it in turns to hit a shot in a single strike from the tip of the cue, their aim being to pot one of the red balls and score a point. If they do pot at least one red, then it remains in the pocket and they are allowed another shot - this time the aim being to pot one of the colours. If successful, then they gain the value of the colour potted. It is returned to its correct position on the table and they must try to pot another red. This process continues until they fail to pot the desired ball, at which point their opponent comes back to the table to play the next shot. The game continues in this manner until all the reds are potted and only the 6 colours are left on the table; at that point the aim is then to pot the colours in the order yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7. When a colour is potted in this phase of a frame, it remains off the table. When the final ball is potted, the player with the most points wins.
Snooker Players
In the professional era that began with Joe Davis in the 1930s and continues up until the present day, a relatively small number of players have succeeded at the top level. Reaching and maintaining a place amongst the snooker elite is a tough task, with the standards of the game being such that it requires many years of dedication and effort as well as natural ability.
Certain players have tended to dominate the sport through the decades. John Pulman is generally regarded as the principal player through the 1960s, Ray Reardon through the 1970s, Steve Davis through the 1980s and Stephen Hendry through the 1990s, winning 6 (1970, 1973-76 and 1978), 6 (1981, 1983, 1984 and 1987-89) and 7 (1990, 1992-96 and 1999) World Championships respectively. No one dominated in the 2000s, with Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the title on three occasions (2001, 2004 and 2008) and Mark Williams and John Higgins winning twice (2000, 2003 and 2007, 2009 respectively); Higgins has three titles in total, having won his first title in 1998. Last successful title defence was in 1996 when Hendry won the sixth of his seven titles (and 5th in a row).