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.
James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, 3 time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
Stephen Lee is an English professional snooker player who is currently banned from the world snooker tour. He turned professional in 1992 and was ranked in the top 16 between the 1997/1998 and 2007/2008 snooker seasons, reaching a career-high of fifth in the rankings. He won five ranking titles, reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Championship and the final of the 2008 Masters. Thereafter, his form declined and he dropped out of the top 16 after the 2007/2008 season, meaning he would no longer automatically qualify for tournaments. A return to form in the 2011–12 season saw Lee win a fifth ranking title and regain his top 16 seeding. Lee is a strong break-builder, compiling 184 competitive century breaks during his career. His smooth cue action is regarded by some pundits as the most natural the game has seen.
The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The ranking lists are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Each player's world ranking is based on their performances in designated ranking tournaments over the preceding two years. The world ranking list is updated after every ranking tournament. The system of world rankings was inaugurated in the 1976–77 season. Until the 2013–14 season, the point tariffs for each tournament were set by the governing body, but the rankings transitioned to a prize money list in the 2014–15 season.
Leo Fernandez is an Irish former professional snooker player.
The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards, organised by World Billiards, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In its various forms, and usually as a single competition, the title is one of the oldest sporting world championships, having been contested since 1870.
The 2008–09 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 4 June 2008 and 10 May 2009. Four players missed the fourth ranking event of the season, the Bahrain Championship, and therefore lost ranking points; this was due to a clash with some Premier League matches whose date had already been approved by the game's governing body.
Peter Lines is an English professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father of fellow professional snooker player Oliver Lines.
The 2007–08 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 16 June 2007 and 15 May 2008. This season saw the introduction of a new ranking tournament in Shanghai, while the Malta Cup lost its status as a ranking tournament.
The 2009–10 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 16 May 2009 and 8 May 2010. There were six ranking events, two less than in the previous season. The Bahrain Championship was not held again, and the Northern Ireland Trophy was removed from the calendar too. The Jiangsu Classic was held for the first time.
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 Q Tour is a series of snooker tournaments, immediately below the level of the World Snooker Main Tour.
The 2010–11 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 20 May 2010 and 2 May 2011. The German Masters was the first ranking tournament in Germany since the 1997/1998 season. The Grand Prix was renamed to World Open, and the format of the tournament was change with 32 amateurs joining the Main Tour professionals. The Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series was introduced to the calendar. These events were open to amateurs and professional with a separate Order of Merit. The top 24 in the Order of Merit qualified to the Finals, which was a ranking event. The Premier League was for the first time part of the Main Tour. The Jiangsu Classic was renamed to the Wuxi Classic, and other events were introduced to the calendar: the new cue sport Power Snooker, the World Seniors Championship, and Snooker Shoot Out. The Scottish Professional Championship was held for the first time since 1989.
Adam Wicheard is an English professional snooker player, who has competed professionally between 2010 and 2012.
The English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB), based in Surrey, England, was launched by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1993 with the aim of the EASB becoming the governing body for amateur snooker and English billiards. It was funded by the WPBSA until 2002, when as one of the measures that the WPBSA took to cut costs, it was given a final one-off payment of £50,000. The link with the professional association had meant that the EASB was not recognised by Sport England as an amateur body.
The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, which introduced the World Snooker Tour name, logo, and revised website as part of a 2020 rebranding. The principal stakeholder in World Snooker Ltd is Matchroom Sport, which owns 51 percent of the company; the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), owns 26 percent. To compete on the World Snooker Tour, players must be WPBSA members.
The 2018–19 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 10 May 2018 and 6 May 2019. The season was made up of ranking tournaments, non-ranking tournaments and variant tournaments. In total, 54 events were competed in the 2018–19 season, beginning with the pro–am 2018 Vienna Open, and ending with the 2019 World Snooker Championship.
The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships in both sports. It was formed in 1919 by the union of the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Club.
Ian Williamson is an English former professional snooker and English billiards player.
Billy Kelly is an Irish former professional snooker player. He played professionally from 1981 to 1992.
Jack Lisowski 
