Snooker: an introduction to the gentleman's game
The sports of snooker is recognised as the most elegant and decent sports. Snooker has a global exposure as it is known and played across the globe, mainly in the continents of Europe, Asia and North America.
It is believed that the game of snooker originated in the mid of 19th century, in India by the British army. It is said to have been the favourite game of soldiers and army personnel, who were stationed in British India.
Snooker grew in the late 19th and early 20th century as a commercial and recreational game.
The most ranked and important tournament in professional snooker is the World Championship, which is held every year. The second most prestigious tournament after the World Championship is the UK Championship. The Masters is then
third in-line to the highest ranked tournaments, although it falls into the category of an ‘invitational tournament’.
The governing body for professional snooker happens to be the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), which is also known as World Snooker. The international body which organizes and looks into the affairs
of non-professional snooker is the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).
The game of snooker does not necessarily require physical fitness, rather the player’s need is to have sharp analytical and focusing skills. It is the gentleman’s game which requires patience, calm nerves, and a quiet environment.
As Clive James said “whoever called snooker ‘chess with balls’ was rude, but right”.
Given below is some information about the equipment used in snooker.
Snooker table: A snooker table is carved out of fine quality wood; it has as many as six legs, which keep the table balanced and stable. The size of a regular full-size table is 12 x 6 ft. Tables have a fine green baize cloth on
the top with six pockets.
Cue: A stick or cue is made of either wood or fiber, with the help of this cue the player strikes the white ball to hit the other colored balls.
Snooker balls: Snooker balls are the most important part of the equipment. Each ball is assigned distinctive points, which helps in the scoring. Red-1, yellow-2, green-3, brown-4, blue-5, pink-6 and black which has the highest
points 7.
Other equipment used in the sports can consist of an extension to the cue, a rest, hook rest, spider, swan or neck spider etc. This equipment is not very sophisticated and can be produced locally with the help of small machines
and skilled labour.
It’s a two player’s game, and the contestants take their turns visiting the table to play the balls. The total number of bracketed points a player scores during each visit to the table is termed as a “break”.
There have been some legendary player’s in snooker. The professional and commercial era of snooker that started with Joe Davis in 1930’s continues until today. Getting to the top spot in world snooker ranking and then maintaining
it, is a very tough task. As the game demands the player to be dedicated and requires years of devotion and continuous effort. Although some players have dominated the sports for as long as decades, such as: John Pullman in the 60’s, Ray Reardon 70’s, Steve
Davis has dominated the decade of 60’s, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Neil Robertson are players who have dominated the sports of snooker and continue to do so.
Snooker is a game of style and elegance, the style and rules of snooker can vary at the club’s or the national level.
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