Snooker, the gentlemen's game
A game which is generally regarded as the invention of the British Army officers in India, it has produced many naturally gifted players who have graced the professional snooker circuit. The game is 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. The regular table used to play professional snooker has a dimension of 12 ft × 6 ft. Many top professional players have attained multi-million pound career earnings from the game.
The champion of top snooker professionals and commentator of several games is Ronnie O’Sullivan. He is one of the most talented snooker players in the world who has a bucket full of confidence and belief in himself. The English snooker player was born on 5 December 1975. One of the most talented players in the history of game, Sullivan is nick named “The Rocket” more particularly due to his rapid playing style. He finished his debut season ranked 57th which is not bad for a teenager who started off his career at the age of 16. He has been the World Number 1 player on five different occasions. His notable achievements include the UK Championship in 1993 and his first World Championship crown in 2001. One of his most recent victories was against Liang Wenbo at the World Championship. A prolific break builder and a solid tactical player, Sullivan is a good front-runner and tends to concede more often than other players. Several of his peers regard him as a genius. Although being a right-handed player, Ronnie can play to high standards with his left hand. While fulfilling his desire of entertaining the audience, he has helped a great deal in improving the image of snooker amongst the general public.
The youngest ever Scottish Professional champion Stephen Gordon Hendry is another player who dominated snooker in the late 1990s and still carries on at the top of the game even today. Born on 13 January 1969 in South Queensferry, Edinburgh, he became the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He started playing snooker at the age of 12, who appeared on BBC's junior version of Pot Black. Stephen has played very aggressively through out his career. In a book titled "Master of the Baize" by Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby, he was also rated as the greatest player of all time. His biggest achievement came about when he won the World Championship no less than seven times. After coming at second on the all-time list of snooker players just behind Steve Davis, Gordon currently holds the record for the longest unbroken streak of wins as a top-16 player (His record went for 22 seasons without a loss).
Another great exponent of the game was Scottish professional snooker player, Stephen Maguire. Born on 13 March 1981 in Glasgow, Scotland he was the surprise winner of the 2004 European Open. O'Sullivan during the early period of his career, tipped him to be a future World Champion. Maguire established himself as one of the game's brightest talents during the start of the 2004/2005 seasons. Being one of the most promising youngsters in the game of snooker at the moment, he has done well in the recent past. In 2000, he made his highest break of 147 in the Regal Scottish Tournament. At present, all eyes are on him to see if he can keep up the momentum of high performances.
One of the greatest misses of the snooker world is Paul Hunter who might have been a World Snooker Champion if he was a live till date. He died of cancer shortly before his 28th birthday. After growing up in Leeds, England, he entered the world of professional snooker when he was only 16 years old. He shook the professional snooker circle by defeating 7 of the world's top snooker players in 1998 Regal Welsh Open. Nicknamed as "Beckham of the Baize", he won dozens of snooker tournaments and gained respect of his colleagues and the fans. His peers spoke greatly of his sportsmanship and his televised matches captured more viewers than any other snooker event.
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