Snooker 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 twenty-two balls, comprising a white 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 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.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.
The Poker Million has been a televised European poker tournament since its inception in November 2000. The final debuted to 30 million viewers and has since remained popular. It was created by UK gaming outfit Ladbrokes with the help of sports promotion firm Matchroom Sport. In 2009 sponsorship was transferred from Ladbrokes to Full Tilt Poker, which produced Poker Million VIII.
Barry Maurice William Hearn is an English sporting events promoter and the founder and president of promotions company Matchroom Sport.
Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf, fishing, darts, table tennis, poker and gymnastics. The company is based in Brentwood, Essex. Matchroom has broadcasting agreements in the United Kingdom with Sky Sports, the BBC and ITV.
The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. The event is often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts" as it has an unseeded open draw made after each round, and entry is open to players at all levels of darts. One-hundred-and-sixty players compete in the multi-board event over eight-stages before the PDC’s Top 32 enter the tournament in the fourth round. The tournament has a prize fund of £600,000; the victor’s prize is £110,000.
The BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and held annually from 1978 to 2020.
The Marshall Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The 3,420 square metres (36,800 sq ft) multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and anticipates music and sporting events, conferences, exhibitions and parties.
Andrew Baggaley is a professional table tennis player from Milton Keynes. He is England's leading table tennis medal winner of all time in the Commonwealth Games, winning two gold medals in Manchester, England (2002), 1 silver medal in Melbourne, Australia (2006), 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in Delhi, India (2010) and 1 silver in Glasgow, Great Britain.
Fallon Suzanne Michelle Sherrock is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Born in Milton Keynes, Sherrock reached the final of the 2015 BDO Women's World Darts Championship, where she was runner-up to Lisa Ashton.
Table Tennis England, formerly the English Table Tennis Association, is the national governing body for table tennis in England, responsible for representing, coordinating, administering, marketing and developing the sport. Most of its annual income comes from government grants and Sport England funding. Table Tennis England runs three separate national championships every year – for U10-U13 players; cadets and juniors; and seniors – as well as operating the British League, a Grand Prix series and other irregularly held tournaments, including the English Open.
The 2017 German Darts Masters was the second of twelve PDC European Tour events on the 2017 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at Sparkassen-Arena, Jena, Germany, between 15–17 April 2017. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
Robert Cross is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He became the 2018 PDC World Darts Champion following his victory over Phil Taylor. Cross won the World Championship on his debut, having turned professional just 11 months prior to the event.
The 2017 Austrian Darts Open was the seventh of twelve PDC European Tour events on the 2017 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at Multiversum Schwechat, Vienna, Austria between 23–25 June 2017. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
The 2018 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the sixteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the fifth time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 2–4 March 2018, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw was staged after each round until the final.
The 2010 UK Open Qualifiers were a series of eight dart tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. Along with 37 Players Championship events, they comprised the 2010 PDC Pro Tour. The tournaments qualified 96 players to the 2010 UK Open.
The 2021 Ladbrokes UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the nineteenth year of the tournament where players compete in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the first time at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England, between 5–7 March 2021, and was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The February 2022 European Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 21 to 27 February 2022 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament was the 11th ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the sixth of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. The World Snooker Tour originally planned to stage the event at the Stadthalle Fürth in Fürth, Germany, but relocated it to the UK after increasing rates of COVID-19 in Bavaria led to greater restrictions around sporting events. The tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe, and by other networks worldwide.
The 2022 Cazoo UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the twentieth year of the tournament where players compete in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament returned to Butlin's Minehead, England, between 4–6 March 2022, having been held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes in 2021 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
E.J. Riley, later Riley Leisure and just Riley, is a British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 by Edward John Riley, an Irish expatriate living in Manchester, England.
