Snooker

Snooker (pronounced , ) 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 the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with 22 balls: a white cue ball, 15 reds and six coloured balls — yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. Using a snooker cue, players take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a defined sequence, scoring points for each pot and for fouls committed by the opposing player. 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.

The game originated in India during the British Raj, where billiards was popular among army officers. A key set of rules was devised in 1875 by officer Neville Chamberlain, combining elements of black pool and pyramids. The term "snooker" was a derogatory slang used in the British Army for inexperienced personnel, which Chamberlain applied to a poor performance by a young officer. The first official rules were standardised in 1919 by the Billiards Association and Control Club, abolishing drawn games through a tiebreak. Early rules closely resemble modern ones, though minimal point penalties were added later. Snooker was initially considered a gentleman's sport in the United Kingdom, played mostly in military and gentry clubs, but grew into a national pastime by the early 1960s before spreading overseas. The World Snooker Championship began in 1927, with Joe Davis winning the first fifteen editions through 1946, elevating the game to a professional level. The modern era started in 1969 when the BBC commissioned the television series Pot Black, and the World Championship was first televised in 1978. Prominent modern champions include Ray Reardon, Steve Davis, and Stephen Hendry, each winning at least six world titles, while Ronnie O'Sullivan has won seven world championships since 2000. Today, top professionals compete on the World Snooker Tour, a global circuit, with the Triple Crown Series—comprising the World Championship, UK Championship, and Masters—considered the most prestigious titles.