Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport which originated in India in the latter half of the 19th century. It is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue and 22 coloured balls, players must strike the white ball (or "cue ball") to pot the remaining balls in the correct sequence, accumulating points for each pot. An individual game, or frame, is won by the player who scores the most points. A match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.

In the 1870s, billiards was a popular sport played by members of the British Army stationed in India. Snooker gained its own identity in 1884 when officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, while stationed in Ooty, devised a set of rules that combined pyramid and life pool. The word "snooker" was a long used military term used to describe inexperienced or first year personnel. The game grew in popularity in England United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK became the world's first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. United Kingdom, cemented by the formation of the Billiards Association and Control Club (BB&CC) in 1919. It is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

The World Snooker Championship has taken place since 1927, with Joe Davis becoming a key figure in the early growth of the sport with 15 championship wins from 1927 to 1946. The modern era began in 1969 after the BBC commissioned the snooker television show Pot Black and began to air the World Championship in 1978, leading to the sport's new peak in popularity. Ray Reardon dominated the game in the 1970s, Steve Davis in the 1980s, and Stephen Hendry in the 1990s; Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the most world titles since 2000.

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  SPORTS WORLD

  Snooker

  Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. 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), black (7).

  History: The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the nineteenth century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India and several variations of the game were devised during this time.

  Equipment: Snooker is played on a rectangular snooker table with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. The table usually has a slate base, covered in green baize.

  Gameplay: At the beginning of each frame the balls are set up by the referee. This will be followed by a break-off shot, on which the players take turns.

  Fouls: A foul is a shot or action by the striker which is against the rules of the game. When a foul is made during a shot, the player's turn is ended and he will receive no points for the foul shot.

  End of a frame: When the black is the only object ball remaining, and the striker leads by more than seven points, the striker may claim the win, but may also elect to proceed with potting the black, for example to complete a high-scoring break.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Snooker" and "Rules of snooker", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.