Snooker is a cue sport played on a rectangular 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 twenty-two balls, comprising a cue ball, fifteen red balls, and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black—collectively called the colours. Using a cue stick, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the white cue ball to pot other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each time the opposing player or team commits a foul. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points. A snooker match ends when a player reaches a predetermined number of frames.
Anthony Christian Meo is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Championship titles, partnering Davis, and the 1983 World Team Classic representing England alongside Davis and Tony Knowles.
Raymond Reardon is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 aged 35 and dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and more than a dozen other tournaments. Reardon was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in 1982. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He was the second qualifier to win the title after Alex Higgins achieved the feat in 1972; only Shaun Murphy has done it since, winning the title in 2005. Griffiths defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16 in the final. Nine years later, in 1988, Griffiths reached the final of the competition again. He was tied with Steve Davis at 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
Clifford Charles DevlinThorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final to become the first world champion in snooker's modern era from outside the United Kingdom. He remains the sport's only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. Ranked world number one during the 1981–82 season, he was the first non-British player to top the world rankings.
Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.
The professional world rankings for the 1988–89 season are listed below.
The 1986 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1985–86 snooker season and the 1986 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927. The total prize fund was £350,000 with £70,000 awarded to the winner and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The 1985–86 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between July 1985 and May 1986. The following table outlines the results for ranking events and the invitational events.
The 2005–06 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 17 May 2005 and 10 May 2006. There were six ranking tournaments, and the British Open and Irish Masters tournaments were removed from calendar. The Northern Ireland Trophy was held for the first time as non-ranking tournament, and the Pot Black was held again after a 12-year hiatus.
The 1986–87 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between July 1986 and May 1987. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and invitational events.
The 1986 Langs Supreme Scottish Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 and 21 September 1986 at the Hospitality Inn in Glasgow, Scotland.
The 1986 South African Professional Championship was a non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in August 1986 at the Summit Club, Johannesburg. The tournament featured eleven South African players.
The 1986 Canadian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in August 1986 at Snooker Centre, Toronto, Canada.
The 1986 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in September 1986.
The 1986 Camus China Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held in September 1986 in Shanghai, China.
The 1986 Matchroom Professional Championship was the inaugural edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place from 17 to 21 September 1986 in Southend-on-Sea, England.
The 1986 Hong Kong Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 2 and 7 September 1986 at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. Willie Thorne won the tournament, defeating Dennis Taylor 8–3 in the final. Thorne recorded two century breaks, 102 and 106, during the final. The event was sponsored by Camus and had a prize fund of £86,000.
The 1984 Camus Malaysian Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held in August 1984 in Malaysia.
The Malaysian Masters was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged on three occasions in 1984, 1986 and 1996.
Jimmy White 
Dennis Taylor 
