1.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
2.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
3.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
4.
Glossary of cue sports terms
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There are also hybrid pocket/carom games such as English billiards. The terms American or US as applied here refer generally to North American usage, similarly, British terms predominate in the world of snooker, English billiards and blackball, regardless of the players nationalities. The term blackball is used in this glossary to refer to both blackball and eight-ball pool as played in the Commonwealth, as a shorthand, 1-cushion See the Straight rail billiards main article for the game sometimes called one-cushion. 1-pocket See the One-pocket main article for the game, 3-ball See the Three-ball main article for the game. 3-cushion See the Three-cushion billiards main article for the game, 4-ball See the Yotsudama main article for the modern Asian game often called four-ball. See the American four-ball billiards main article for the nineteenth-century game, 5-pins See the Five-pin billiards main article for the formerly Italian, now internationally standardized game, or Danish pin billiards for the five-pin traditional game of Denmark. 6-ball See the Nine-ball#Six-ball sub-article for the game, 8-ball See the Eight-ball main article for the game. See the 8 ball entry, under the E section below, See 8 ball for derivative uses. 9-ball See the Nine-ball main article for the game, See the 9 ball entry, under the N section below, for the ball. 9-pins See the Goriziana main article for the game sometimes called nine-pins, 10-ball See the Ten-ball main article for the game. Above Used in snooker in reference to the position of the cue ball and it is above the object ball if it is off-straight on the baulk cushion side of the imaginary line for a straight pot. It is also common to use the term high instead, gambling or the potential for gambling. Lively results on a ball, usually the cue ball, from the application of spin, added Used with an amount to signify money added to a tournament prize fund in addition to the amount accumulated from entry fees. A match format in which a player has to establish a lead of a number of frames in order to win. Aiming line An imaginary line drawn from the path an object ball is to be sent. Anchor To freeze a ball to a cushion, such a ball may be said to be anchored and this term is largely obsolete balkline billiards jargon. Anchor nurse A type of shot used in carom billiards games. It developed to curtail the effectiveness of the nurse, which in turn had been invented to thwart the effectiveness of Parkers box in stopping long
5.
Century break
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In snooker, a century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table without missing a shot, and requires potting of at least 25 consecutive balls. Over 20,000 century breaks have been recorded by snooker players throughout professional tournaments, Ronnie OSullivan holds the record for the most career centuries, with over 800 century breaks. A century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table, the player does this by potting red balls and coloured balls alternately, and when no reds are left, potting the coloured balls in order of their increasing value. Points for a shot by the opponent do not count in a players break. If for example only the colour would be used instead of the black ball. This means that only a century break is possible in a frame of snooker under a limited number of combinations. To score one, there must be at least ten reds on the table when the comes to play since if there are only nine reds left. An exception exists if the opponent fouls and leaves the incoming player snookered on all the remaining reds, Breaks above 147 are possible when an opponent fouls and leaves a free ball with all fifteen reds still remaining on the table. This has happened once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 at the qualifying stage of the 2004 UK Championship. A century of centuries refers to a total of 100 breaks of at least 100 points each, only 15 players had reached this milestone in professional snooker tournaments by December 2001. Only Neil Robertson has achieved the Holy Grail of one hundred 100s in a single season, the following players are reported to have passed 100 breaks and at least the given threshold above this. Career Joe Davis compiled the first televised century break in 1962, the record for most century breaks scored in official tournament play is held by Ronnie OSullivan with over 850. The record was held by Stephen Hendry who compiled 775 centuries over the course of his career. The first player to record 1000 centuries in public performance was Horace Lindrum, stacey Hillyard became the first female to record a competitive century in January 1985. The quickest recorded century break in tournament play was by Tony Drago at 1996 UK Championship, the youngest player to record a century break is Michael White at the age of nine in March 2001. Season The first player to reach 50 centuries in a season was Hendry, judd Trump took the record with 61 centuries in the 2012/2013 season and the record was broken for the fourth successive season in 2013/2014 when Neil Robertson overtook Trumps tally. In total, Robertson compiled 103 century breaks throughout the season, event The most centuries made by a player in a single match during a professional tournament is seven and the record is shared by Stephen Hendry and Ding Junhui. Hendry set the record during the final of the 1994 UK Championship, during this match, Hendry compiled six centuries in a span of eight frames
6.
Snooker
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Snooker is a cue sport which originated in India in the latter half of the 19th century. It is played on a covered with a green cloth, or baize, with pockets at each of the four corners. Using a cue and 22 coloured balls, players must strike the ball to pot the remaining balls in the correct sequence. An individual game, or frame, is won by the player who scores the most points, a match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames. In the 1870s, billiards was a sport played by members of the British Army stationed in India. Snooker gained its own identity in 1884 when officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, while stationed in Ooty, devised a set of rules that combined pyramid, the word snooker was a long used military term used to describe inexperienced or first year personnel. The game grew in popularity in England, cemented by the formation of the Billiards Association and it is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The World Snooker Championship has taken place since 1927, with Joe Davis becoming a key figure in the growth of the sport with 15 championship wins from 1927 to 1946. Top professional players now compete regularly around the world and attain multi-million-pound career earnings, the sport has become increasingly popular in China. The origin of snooker dates back to the half of the nineteenth century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, one such variation originated at the officers mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in Jabalpur in 1875, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, pyramid and life pool. The former was played with fifteen red balls and one positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured balls. The name instantly stuck with the players, in 1887, snooker was given its first definite reference in England in a copy of Sporting Life which caused a growth in popularity. Chamberlain came out as the inventor in a letter to The Field published on 19 March 1938,63 years after the fact. To accommodate the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker-specific clubs were formed, in 1919, the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Board merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club and a new, standard set of rules for snooker first became official. Davis won every championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played, in 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game, known as snooker plus to try to improve the games popularity by adding two extra colours. The TV series became a success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two
7.
Color commentator
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A color commentator is a North American term for a sports commentator who assists the main commentator, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. In other regions this role is referred to as an analyst or summariser. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, the color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy and injury reports on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches of the sport being broadcast, the term color refers to levity and insight provided by a secondary announcer. A sports color commentator customarily works alongside the play-by-play broadcaster, commentary teams typically feature one professional commentator describing the passage of play, and another, usually a former player or coach, providing supplementary input as the game progresses. Additionally, former players and managers appear as pundits, carrying out a role to the co-commentator during the pre-game show preceding a given contest. In American motorsports coverage, there may be as many as two color commentators in the booth for a given broadcast, in the United Kingdom, the term color commentator is relatively unknown, rather the role is called analyst, summarizer, or simply commentator. Cricket coverage on ESPNcricinfo uses similar terminology, in Australia, the term is not used. Those giving the analysis alongside the main commentator are sometimes said to be giving additional or expert analysis, or are special comments, there is no mention or translation to the term color. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden the term ekspertkommentator / expertkommentator is used for a sidekick to the play-by-play announcer. In Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, the position is known as a comentarista and comentador, respectively, similarly, in Finland kommentaattori is used for the second commentator, and selostaja for the main one. In France, the term for a commentator is consultant. In Italy, the commentator is usually referred to as responsible for the commento tecnico whereas the play-by-play commentator is the main telecronista. In Italy, too, the commentator is usually a person formerly directly involved in the sport. Recent Formula 1 races have no fewer than three commentators, the telecronista, a pilot, and an engineer, the last two sharing the commento tecnico. In Turkey, the term spiker is used for the play-by-play announcer whereas the color commentator is referred to simply as yorumcu, in some countries, the two-person commentating team is not used as much as elsewhere. In Germany, most broadcasts of sports matches traditionally feature a single play-by-play announcer who provides commentary, background information. If the broadcast is on TV, the announcer will usually not comment on visually obvious things, in those cases, a current or former athlete or coach is often used as co-commentator or Experte
8.
World Snooker Championship
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The World Snooker Championship is the leading snooker tournament both in terms of prestige and prize money. The first championship was held in 1927 and was won by Joe Davis, Davis won the first 15 championships before retiring from the event, undefeated, after his 1946 success. In the 1950s snooker went into a period of decline and the championship was not held after 1952, in 1964 the championship was revived on a challenge basis and in 1969 the championship became a knock-out event again. Since 1977 it has played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The tournament is played over 17 days and ends on the first Monday in May. In the modern era, the best record is that of Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon both won six times while Ronnie OSullivan has won five titles. The current champion is Mark Selby, who has won the tournament twice, the first championship was held in 1927 and was called the Professional Snooker Championship. It was the first important professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916, ten professionals entered including most of the leading billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over 23 frames, the first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurstons Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker was played as an extra to the main event. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session, Inman won 8–5, the match finishing on the Monday afternoon, a week after it started. One other match was played in connection with a billiards contest, with minimal prize money, players mainly made money from their share of the gate receipts. Because of this it was common for dead frames to be played after the result of the match had been decided, the final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkins Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames and led throughout, taking a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, the highest break of the tournament was 60, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match. Davis made a 57 break of the final, the 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other 6 entries playing off for the right to challenge Joe Davis in the final. Davis met Fred Lawrence in the final, winning 16–13, the challenge system was dropped in 1929. Davis met Tom Dennis in the final, played in Denniss home town of Nottingham, Davis made a new record break of 61 on the way to a 17–12 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final, played for the first time at Thurstons Hall in London, the final was extended to 49 frames played over 6 days
9.
Masters (snooker)
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The Masters is a professional invitational snooker tournament. Held every year since 1975, it is the second longest running tournament behind the World Championship and it is one of the Triple Crown events, and although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. The reigning champion is Ronnie OSullivan, the Masters began as an invitational event for 10 top players. The field was expanded to 12 competitors in 1981, and 16 in 1983, since 1984, the standard invitees have been the top 16 players in the world rankings, with the addition of two or three wild-card places in tournaments held between 1990 and 2010. Ronnie OSullivan holds the record for the most Masters titles, having won the tournament seven times, Stephen Hendry has won six titles. Alex Higgins, Mark Williams, and John Higgins have each won the title twice, three maximum breaks have been made in the history of the tournament, all by overseas players. Canadas Kirk Stevens made the first in 1984, Chinas Ding Junhui made the second in 2007, the tournament was held for the first time in 1975 at the West Centre Hotel in London, when ten leading players were invited. The event was sponsored by the cigarette company Benson & Hedges, John Spencer won the inaugural tournament by defeating Ray Reardon 9–8 in the final. The following year the event moved to the New London Theatre, in 1981 the number of players invited to compete was increased to 12, and then increased again to 16 in 1983. From 1984 onwards the top 16 players in the rankings were automatically invited to the tournament. In 1984 Kirk Stevens became the first player to make a break at the event against Jimmy White in the semi-final. In 1988 Mike Hallett became the first and to date only player to be whitewashed in a Masters final, Hallett reached his second final in four years in 1991, but lost 8–9 against Hendry, despite leading 7–0 and 8–2. This defeat effectively ended Halletts days as a force in the game. For the 1991 tournament, the Benson & Hedges Championship was introduced, the other continued to be granted by the governing body. In the 1997 final, Steve Davis defeated Ronnie OSullivan in a match disrupted by a streaker, Davis came back from 4–8 down to win the remaining six frames in a row, clinching the final at 10–8. The 1998 final went down to a black in the deciding frame. In the 2000 final Ken Doherty missed the black in a 147 attempt, the first time this had happened in competition. After the 2003 Masters, Benson & Hedges had to end their sponsorship of the event due to UK restrictions on advertising
10.
Stephen Hendry
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Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish former professional snooker player. Hendry became the youngest professional player in 1985 aged 16 and, in 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion. He won the World Championship seven times, a record in the modern era, Hendry has the distinction of winning the most world ranking titles and is second on the century break list behind Ronnie OSullivan with 775 competitive century breaks. He has made 11 competitive maximum breaks, second only to OSullivan with 13, Hendry started playing snooker in 1981, aged 12, when his father, Gordon, bought him a child-sized snooker table as a Christmas present. Two years later he won the Scottish U-16 Championship and he also appeared on BBCs Junior version of Pot Black. The following year he won the Scottish Amateur Championship and also became the youngest ever entrant in the World Amateur Championship, in 1985, after retaining the Scottish Amateur Championship, he turned professional. At 16 years and three months old he was the youngest ever professional, Hendry was managed by entrepreneur Ian Doyle. In his first season, he reached the last 32 in the Mercantile Credit Classic and was the youngest ever Scottish Professional champion. He also became the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Championship and he lost 8–10 to Willie Thorne who then applauded him out of the arena. Hendry and Mike Hallett combined to win that years World Doubles Championship, in 1987/88 Hendry won his first world ranking titles, the Grand Prix, beating Dennis Taylor 10–7 in the final, and the British Open. He also claimed three other tournament victories, retaining both the Scottish Professional Championship and the World Doubles Championship, and the Australian Masters, by the end of that season he was ranked world no.4 and was voted the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year. No ranking titles came his way the following season, although he did win the New Zealand Masters, the 1989/90 season saw the beginning of Hendrys period of dominance. The following season, he set a record of five ranking titles in one season and recorded a hat-trick of Masters, beating Mike Hallett 9–8 after coming back from 0–7. However, Hendry failed to retain his title, losing to Steve James in the quarter-finals. In 1991/92, Hendry regained the World title, winning 10 frames in a row to come from 8–14 down to defeat White 18–14 and he won the Masters, too, and achieved his first competitive 147 break, in the Matchroom League. A year later, he retained both his World Championship title and a fifth consecutive Masters crown, the following season, he retained the World Championship, narrowly beating Jimmy White 18–17 in the final. Also in 1997, Stephen Hendry played Ronnie OSullivan in the Liverpool Victoria charity challenge final, the match was best of 17 frames. Stephen raced into a 6-1 and 8-2 lead with breaks of 110,129 and 136, Ronnie won the next 6 frames to level the match at 8-8
11.
Ken Doherty
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Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and this made him the first, and so far one of only two players to have been world amateur and professional champion. The following year, he came close to breaking the crucible curse. In 2003 he reached a final, where he was defeated by Mark Williams. In other triple crown events, he is a three-time UK Championship runner-up, an intelligent tactician and prolific break-builder, Doherty has compiled more than 300 century breaks in professional competition. From 2009 onwards he has combined his career with commentating. After two semi-finals in the 1991/92 season, Doherty reached the final of the 1992 Grand Prix, in the same event a year later, he lost 6–9 to Peter Ebdon. His first ranking title was the 1993 Welsh Open, enough to him into the top 16 in the world. In the 1994 World Championship he reached the quarter-finals, his run past the first round before 1997. Doherty became only the player from outside the United Kingdom to win the World Championship when he beat Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the 1997 final. Ken also reached the World Championship final in 1998 and in 2003, in that championship he played more frames than anyone before or since. In the final, Williams led 11–4 but Doherty fought back to 12–12, in frame 33, Doherty missed the 2nd to final red with a clearance there for the taking. Williams won that frame and the next to prevail 18–16. He is one of the few players to win back-to-back ranking events – the Welsh Open and Thailand Masters in 2001 and this one pot would have seen him win an £80,000 sports car. However, at 140 he did at least have the consolation of the £19,000 highest break prize. In the 2005 World Championship, Doherty beat Barry Pinches in the first round 10–5, winning the last 8 frames, following an average start to the 2005/06 season, Doherty won the Malta Cup in February 2006, beating John Higgins in the final. Doherty had trailed 8–5 at one stage but managed a stirring comeback, Doherty called the victory, which bridged a five-year gap, his most important tournament win since the World Championship. In the 2006 World Championship, Doherty started brightly winning his first match and defeated Barry Hawkins 10–1 and then he beat Matthew Stevens 13–8 and he was favourite in his quarter-final match against Marco Fu but lost 13–10
12.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
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Ronald Antonio OSullivan, OBE is an English professional snooker and pool player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sports history and he is noted for his rapid playing style, mercurial temperament, and his ambivalent relationship with the sport, from which he has taken prolonged sabbaticals and repeatedly threatened to retire. Ronnie is based at the Legends Snooker Academy in Leytonstone, England, a childhood snooker prodigy, OSullivan made his first century break at age 10, and his first maximum break at age 15. He turned professional in 1992, at the age of 16 and he is also the youngest player to have won the Masters, having captured his first title in 1995 at the age of 19 years and 69 days. His record in Triple Crown events now stands at five World Championship, a record seven Masters, OSullivan has held the world number one ranking on multiple occasions, most recently during the 2009/2010 season. His other achievements include ten Premier League titles and winning the Nations Cup with England in 2000, known as a prolific break-builder, OSullivan holds the record for the most competitive century breaks with 868. OSullivans achievements in snooker began at an early age and he made his first century break at the age of 10, completed his first total clearance at age 12, and became British Under-16 Champion at age 13. He made his debut in The Thames Snooker Classic when he was 14. He compiled his first maximum break in the final of the 1991 British Amateur Championships at age 15 and he turned professional in 1992, aged 16. OSullivan began the 1992/1993 season by winning 74 of his first 76 professional matches, including a streak of 38 successive victories. At the qualifying stage of the Grand Prix he defeated Jason Curtis 5–0 in a time of 43 minutes 36 seconds, after this Alan Hughes gave him the nickname The Rocket. In September 1992, at the age of 16, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Championship. He made his Crucible debut on 18 April 1993 at the age of 17 years and 134 days and he lost 7–10 to Alan McManus in the first round. OSullivan was named the WPBSAs Young Player of the Year for 1993, in the 1993/1994 season OSullivan defeated Hendry 10–6 in the final of the UK Championship to win his first ranking title. At the age of 17 years and 358 days he became the youngest ever winner of a ranking tournament. He faced Hendry again in the final of the European Open and he won his second ranking title at the British Open by defeating James Wattana 9–4 in the final. He reached the round of the World Championship but lost 3–13 against John Parrott. Having started the season ranked number 57 in the world, he ended it ranked number 9 and he captured his first Masters title by defeating John Higgins 9–3 in the final, becoming the youngest player ever to win the tournament at the age of 19 years and 69 days
13.
John Higgins (snooker player)
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John Higgins, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In terms of titles in the modern era, Higgins is fifth behind Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ray Reardon. His 28 career ranking titles, put him in joint second place with Davis and OSullivan, known as a prolific break-builder, he has compiled 664 century breaks in professional tournament play, placing him third behind OSullivan and Hendry. He has also compiled 8 competitive maximum breaks, placing him third behind OSullivan, for 16 consecutive full seasons from 1996/1997 to 2011/2012, Higgins never fell below 6th in the world rankings, and was world number 1 on four occasions. The WPBSA banned Higgins from professional competition for six months and fined him £75,000 and he returned to the tour midway through the 2010/2011 season. After his return to snooker, Higgins added a third UK Championship title and he subsequently experienced a noted slump in form, and between 2012 and 2014 only won the 2012 Shanghai Masters. He has spoken frequently in this period about his struggles with confidence, however, in 2015, Higgins returned to winning ways, capturing three ranking titles. Higgins turned professional in 1992 and reached the quarter-finals of the British Open during his first season on the professional tour. He rose to prominence in the 1994/1995 season when, at the age of 19, he won his first ranking tournament at the Grand Prix, by the end of the season, he had moved from 51st to 11th in the world rankings. By the end of the season, assisted by two more ranking titles and another ranking final, he had moved up to 2nd in the world. In the UK Championship final in 1996, he recovered from 4–8 down against Stephen Hendry to lead 9–8, only to lose 9–10. In 1998, Higgins won his first World Championship, beating Jason Ferguson, Anthony Hamilton, John Parrott and Ronnie OSullivan and he made a then-record 14 centuries in the tournament. After winning the title, Higgins became world number 1 for the first time in his career. Higgins remained as World no.1 for two years, when Mark Williams replaced him at the top of the rankings at the close of the 1999/00 season and he reached the World Championship final in 2001, but lost 14–18 to Ronnie OSullivan. At the beginning of the 2001/02 season, Higgins became the first player to win the three tournaments of a season, the Champions Cup, Scottish Masters, and the British Open. Higgins then failed to win a title until his fourth British Open triumph in 2004. In the Grand Prix final in 2005, Higgins beat Ronnie OSullivan 9–2, in doing so, he became the first player to record four consecutive centuries in a ranking tournament, with breaks of 103,104,138 and 128 in frames 7 to 10. Higgins scored 494 points without reply, which was then a record, Higgins and OSullivan also contested the Masters finals in 2005 and 2006
14.
Mark Williams (snooker player)
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Mark James Williams, MBE is a Welsh professional snooker player who has been World Champion twice, in 2000 and 2003. Often noted for his single-ball potting, he has earned the nickname The Welsh Potting Machine and he has been ranked the world number 1 for a total of three seasons in his career. The first left-handed player to win the World Championship, Williams has won 18 ranking tournaments, including the UK Championship twice and he has also won the Masters on two occasions, in 1998 and 2003. Williams most successful season in his career to date was the 2002/2003 season, when he won the treble of tournaments, the UK Championship, the Masters. He is the player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all three Triple Crown events in one season. Following his second World Championship his form declined, and he dropped out of the top 16 following the 2007/2008 season, as a prolific break-builder, Williams has compiled more than 350 century breaks during his career. Williams was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, and started playing snooker at an early age and he scored his first century when he was 13. He won his first junior event when he was 11 and it was then that he realised that he wanted to pursue a career as a snooker player and he was encouraged to play by his father Dilwyn, who was a miner. When he was 15 he did a 12-hour shift down the mines, Williams was also a promising Amateur boxer, being undefeated in 12 fights as a schoolboy, but he decided to pursue his snooker career instead. He turned professional in 1992 and finished his first season ranked 119th, Williams first ranking tournament win came in January 1996, when he claimed the Welsh Open title, beating John Parrott 9–3 in the final. In April 1997, he won the British Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9–2 in the final. He also beat Hendry in the final to win his first Masters title in February 1998, winning on the final black 10–9 after recovering from 6–9 down, in the 1998 World Championship, he reached the semi-finals, losing 14–17 to Ken Doherty. He was runner-up next year to Hendry, the 1999/2000 season was a very successful one for Williams, winning both the UK Championship and the World Championship. These results, along with another ranking title and three positions, allowed him to capture the world number 1 position for the first time. In the World Championship final he came from 7–13 behind his fellow countryman and he also produced a notable comeback in his semi-final match against John Higgins, coming from 10–14 down to win 17–15. This was enough to retain his number 1 ranking, although his title defence at the World Championship fell in the round with a 12–13 defeat to Joe Swail. However, he lost to the same player 9–13 in the round of the World Championship. Another strong performance came in 2002/2003 season when he won the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship titles
15.
Peter Ebdon
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Peter David Ebdon is an English professional snooker player. He was World Champion in 2002, beating Stephen Hendry 18–17 in the final and he was also a losing finalist in the World Championship in 1996 and 2006. Ebdon turned professional in 1991 and soon made an impact by beating world champion Steve Davis 10–4 in the first round of the 1992 World Championship. However, it was a run which earned him the WPBSA Young Player of the Year award as a result and his first ranking title was the 1993 Grand Prix. He climbed the rankings rapidly to reach a career-highest position of three in 1996, he again reached world number three status at the close of the 2002 season. Perhaps Ebdons greatest achievement, thus far, was his 18–17 defeat of Stephen Hendry in the 2002 World Championship final, having started the tournament at odds of 33–1. In the semi-final before the final he led Marco Fu 15–9 before being pegged back to 16–16 before Ebdon took the decider, Ebdon is a remarkably focused and determined player. Until recently, his times had slowed down considerably, this attracted some criticism – particularly. Resuming at 10–6 down, Ebdon won the first six frames of the evening session, Ebdon nevertheless won the match 13–11. Such performances, though lacking fluency, often appear to break his opponent mentally, Ebdon stated after his victory over OSullivan, When Im trying my hardest I seem to go slow. When The Times described his play as cheating, he attempted to sue them for libel. However, he failed to reach a ranking quarter-final in 2007, the WPBSA, of which Ebdon is a board member, has yet to announce an investigation of its own. In 2009, Ebdon beat John Higgins 10–8 to win the China Open, however, in the subsequent World Championship, Ebdon lost 10–5 to Nigel Bond in the first round. A year later, after a season, Ebdon once again lost 10–5 in the World Championship. This result meant Ebdon dropped out of the top 16 in the rankings after an uninterrupted 16-year stay. At the start of the season Ebdon issued a statement announcing that he would not be able to play to the best of his ability in the last round of the Shanghai Masters qualifiers. He enjoyed a return of form in the World Open, where he beat Steve Davis 3–1, Fergal OBrien 3–2, Liu Song 3–2. This was his first semi-final since the 2009 China Open and saw him retake a place in the top 16 and he also reached the quarter-finals of the China Open and the last 16 of the German Masters and Welsh Open
16.
Nigel Bond
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Nigel Bond is an English professional snooker player. Bond has competed on the tour since 1989, and was ranked within the worlds top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996/1997 season. He reached the final of the World Championship in 1995, where he lost 9–18 to Stephen Hendry and he retained his place in the top 64 until 2015. He was born in Darley Dale, Derbyshire, after a strong amateur career, Bond turned professional for the 1989–1990 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, a year later, Bond reached the final after beating Stephen Lee, Alan McManus, Gary Wilkinson and Andy Hicks, but lost to Stephen Hendry 18–9. This was his only run of the season. He reached at least the quarter finals at the Crucible Theatre every year from 1993 to 1996, losing to Stephen Hendry every time, after leading comfortably throughout the match Bond was pegged back to 7–7, and the match went to a final frame. Final score 10–9, Bonds first win at the Crucible since 1999, by the end of the 1990s, Bond was out of the top 16, and dropped out of the top 32 for the 2004–2005 season. However, he reclaimed his place a year later, and he has remained ever since as of 2009. In the 2007 World Championship he lost in the first round, victories over David Roe, Stephen Lee and Barry Pinches took him to a meeting with Stephen Maguire, which he lost 5–0. He opened the 2008/09 season with first-round defeats in the first five tournaments, on 30 January 2011, Bond won the Snooker Shoot-Out event. This involved the top 64 players in the world playing 10-minute matches decided on a single frame and he picked up the £32,000 prize money as well as the Snooker Shoot-Out trophy, beating Robert Milkins 58–24 in the final. Bond started the 2011/2012 season very well by qualifying for the first two ranking event tournaments, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters and he lost to Neil Robertson and Mark Selby respectively in the first round. He also qualified for the World Open, but was defeated by amateur player Lu Ning in the wildcard round, Bond finished the season ranked world number 45. Bond once again qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open in the 2012/2013 season, in December, he reached the World Open in Haikou, China, with wins over Jimmy White and Jamie Burnett. At the venue he saw off Zhu Yinghui 5–3 in the wildcard round, there he lost 1–5 to Judd Trump. Bond was also crowned World Seniors champion during the season without dropping a frame in a total of seven matches, Bonds season ended when he was beaten 8–10 by Alan McManus in the third round of World Championship Qualifying. He dropped a place during the year to end it ranked world number 46
17.
Neal Foulds
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Neal Foulds is a former English professional snooker player and is now a commentator on the sport. The son of snooker professional Geoff Foulds, he began playing the game at the age of 11, following victory in the national under-19′s Championship beating John Parrott in the final, Foulds then turned professional in 1983. At the end of the season he qualified for the stages of the World Championship at his first attempt. Foulds quickly climbed the rankings in the seasons that followed reaching no.3 within four years and he won his first ranking tournament in 1986, the BCE International, beating Cliff Thorburn 12–9 in the final. In the same season he was runner-up to Steve Davis in the UK Championship, Foulds made a brief reappearance as a player in November 2011 in the World Seniors before eventually losing to Dene OKane. Foulds made 86 competitive century breaks in his career, since his retirement, Foulds has moved up to the commentary box for Eurosport, BBC, Sky Sports and he also co-hosts all ITV4 tournament coverage, interviewing players as well as commentating. Foulds also works as a presenter on horse racing channel Turf TV, in 2014, Foulds made a cameo as himself commentating on a fictional match at the climax of the snooker short film drama Extended Rest
18.
Preston Guild Hall
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Preston Guild Hall is an entertainment venue in Preston, Lancashire, England. It was built to replace the towns Public Hall, intended to be ready for the Preston Guild of 1972, the complex has two performance venues, the Grand Hall which holds 2,034 people and the Charter Theatre which holds 780 people. There is direct access, via subway and bridge, from the adjacent Preston bus station. Artists that have performed at the venue include Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and it also hosted the UK Snooker Championship for many years. Until July 2014, it was owned by Preston City Council and it was then sold to local businessman Simon Rigby, who has promised to spend £1m to renovate the venue
19.
2006 Grand Prix (snooker)
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The 2006 Royal London Watches Grand Prix was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 21 and 29 October 2006 at the A. E. C. C. in Aberdeen, Scotland. Neil Robertson won his first ranking title by defeating Jamie Cope 9–5 in the final, the first round used a round-robin format. The top 32 and the 16 qualifiers were placed in eight groups of six with the top two from each qualifying for the knockout stage. Qualifying was held between 30 September and 4 October 2006 at Pontins Prestatyn using a round-robin format, the entries were placed into eight groups with the top 2 from each group qualifying for the finals in Aberdeen
20.
Neil Robertson (snooker player)
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Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player. He made his first breakthrough into the top ranks in the 2006/2007 season. He won the 2010 World Championship and was the number one later in the same year. Robertson is the only Australian to have won a ranking event, Robertson is also one of eleven players to win both the world and UK titles, and one of ten to win the triple crown of World Championship, UK Championship and Masters. During the 2013/2014 season he became the first player to make 100 centuries in a single season, Robertson is considered Australias best ever snooker player, as well as one of the best players from outside the United Kingdom in the sports history. Robertson began his career at 14, when he became the youngest player to make a century break in an Australian ranking event. He began his career in the 1998/1999 season. Then, when he was 17 years old, he reached the qualifying round of the 1999 World Championship. In July 2003, Robertson won the World Under-21 Snooker Championship in New Zealand and this earned him a vital wildcard spot on the subsequent WPBSA Main Tour. In 2003 he won the tournament for a wildcard place at the 2004 Masters. In 2004/2005 season, he moved up to the top 32 in the rankings, reaching the stages of 6 of the 8 tournaments. He qualified for the stages of the 2005 World Championship. In the 2005/2006 season, he continued to progress, moving up to the top 16 of the rankings at the end of the season and he made his breakthrough in the 2006/2007 season. After finishing top of his group at the 2006 Grand Prixs round robin stage, so he went on to the semi-finals, being only the fourth Australian ever to do so in a ranking event. The win earned Robertson £60,000, his highest amount of money earned in one tournament, Robertson had early exits in both the UK Championship and the Masters, but found his form again en route to the final of the Welsh Open. He defeated Stephen Hendry 5–3, making a break of 141 in the last frame and he beat Steve Davis 6–3 in the semi-finals, and surprise finalist Andrew Higginson 9–8 in the final to take the title. He led 6–2 after the first session, then dropped six frames in a row to come within one frame of defeat and he reached the second round of the 2007 World Championship, losing 10–13 to Ronnie OSullivan despite at one stage winning six frames in a row. Robertson started 2007/2008 season poorly, making early exits in three of the first four ranking events, plus the 2008 Masters and 2008 Malta Cup and he did reach the quarter-finals of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy after wins over Jamie Cope and Ian McCulloch
21.
2013 Welsh Open (snooker)
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The 2013 BetVictor Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11–17 February 2013 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. It was the ranking event of the 2012/2013 season. At the tournament Pankaj Advani became the first Indian player to reach the quarter-final of a ranking event, ding Junhui was the defending champion, but he lost in the semi-finals 5–6 against Stuart Bingham. Stephen Maguire won his fifth ranking title by defeating Bingham 9–8 in the final, prize money for the event this year was increased from £201,500 to £250,000, with the winner to receive £50,000 instead of £30,000. Betvictor Welsh Open – Pictures by World Snooker at Facebook
22.
Tony Drago
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Tony Drago is a professional snooker and pool player from Malta. He reached the finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1988. He won the 2003 World Pool Masters Tournament beating Hsia Hui-kai 8–6 and 2008 Predator International 10-ball Championship beating Francisco Bustamante 13–10, Dragos highest snooker world rankings position was number ten. He has reached two major finals – the Mita/Sky World Masters in 1991, and the International Open in 1997 and he reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1988. He has appeared in the tournament 11 times more, most recently in 2004/2005 and he lost to Matthew Stevens in three successive years – 8–13 in the last 16 in 1999, 2–10 in the 2000 first round, and 1–10 in the 2001 first round. After failing to qualify for the 2004 World Championships, Drago entered a decline in snooker. He dropped out of the top 32 of the rankings a year later, in 2009, Drago won the EBSA International Open, which gave him the chance to return for the 2009/2010 season. He reached the qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters, Grand Prix. He then qualified for the Welsh Open, by defeating Simon Bedford, Peter Lines, Jimmy Michie, and Gerard Greene, where he played against Ryan Day in the first round, but he lost 4–5. In the China Open qualifying, Drago defeated Lee Page, John Parrott, Anthony Hamilton, as a result of such a solid season, he got a place in the top 64 and finished 54th. 2010/2011 was again a season for Drago, as he climbed 8 places to finish 46th in the rankings. However, the 2011/12 season was worse, with only 4 qualifying wins to Dragos name. His best results were reaching the last 32 of several of the PTC events, Drago could not qualify for any of the ranking events during the 2012/2013 season. Drago finished the year ranked world number 82 and his first match of the season was against Adam Duffy in the qualifying round for the 2013 Wuxi Classic, Drago lost the match 2–5. In the qualifying rounds for the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open, Drago defeated Christopher Keogan 5–2 and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4, Drago lost his place on the tour at the end of the 2015/2016 season and he failed to qualify for the main tour in that seasons Q School. At 2007 in Las Vegas, Drago won all of his matches which earned him the Most Valuable Player Award. In 2008, Drago won the Predator International 10-ball Championship, beating Francisco Bustamante 13–10, Drago is well known for the speed of his play, and holds a number of records resulting from this. In 1993 he recorded the fastest ever best-of-9-frames snooker victory by beating Sean Lanigan in just thirty-four minutes at the 2nd leg of the Strachan Challenge and he also holds the record for the fastest best-of-17 match, beating Joe OBoye 9–0 in 81 minutes at the 1990 UK Championship
23.
Robert Milkins
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Robert Milkins is an English professional snooker player from Gloucester. Milkins turned professional in 1995, but dropped off the Main Tour when it was reduced in size after the 1996/1997 season, but returned a year later via the UK Tour. After four seasons of solid progress with occasional last-16 runs, he reached the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship in 2002, and he made history in qualifying for the 2006 World Snooker Championship by making a 147 break in his match against Mark Selby. He became only the player to achieve a maximum in the tournament. He ultimately lost to Selby 4–10, becoming only the player to lose a World Championship match despite a 147. Milkins also made a break against Xiao Guodong in the fourth qualifying round of the 2012 tournament. He has also been on the end of a 147 in the tournament – Mark Williams completed a 10–1 victory in the first round of the 2005 tournament with a final-frame maximum. In 2005 he reached the Irish Masters semi-final, but lost 8–9 against Matthew Stevens and he lost in the final qualifying round of the World Championships for the second year in a row in 2007 – 10–4 against Mark Allen. In 2008 he did not get far, losing 10–4 to Barry Pinches. At the 2006 Grand Prix he and Ronnie OSullivan were the players to win all 5 group matches. The 2007/2008 season was a one for Milkins, and he has slipped down the rankings to number 51. Milkins had a run at the 2008 Bahrain Championship. In 2009, Milkins joined player management company on Q Promotions, Milkins reached the second ranking event semi-final of his career in the 2012 World Open. He qualified for the tournament with 5–1 and 5–0 wins over Sam Craigie and he defeated Jin Long 5–2, before dispatching reigning world champion John Higgins 5–3 in the quarter-finals. However, Milkins lost his last 4 encounter with Stephen Lee 2–6 and he finished 2011/12 ranked world number 36. Milkins began the 2012/2013 season by qualifying for the Wuxi Classic by beating Liu Chuang, after this Milkins lost in the qualifying draw of the Australian Goldfields Open and in the first round of four consecutive ranking events. He bucked the trend at the Welsh Open by scoring 4–1 and 4–2 wins over Mark Williams and Sam Baird, Milkins followed this up by reaching the second round of both the World Open and the China Open, losing to Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham respectively. Milkins finished 41st on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit, however, he took part in all three of the new Asian PTCs and performed well enough to finish 5th on the Order of Merit, which was high enough to qualify for the Finals
24.
2012 Australian Goldfields Open
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The 2012 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 9–15 July 2012 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia. It was the ranking event of the 2012/2013 season. Stuart Bingham was the champion, but he lost in the first round 4–5 against Matthew Selt. Barry Hawkins won his first ranking title by defeating Peter Ebdon 9–3 in the final, the breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below, These matches were played in Bendigo on 9 July. These matches were held between 12 and 15 June 2012 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England, official website Australian Goldfields Open 2012 picture gallery at Facebook
25.
Bendigo
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Bendigo /ˈbɛndᵻɡoʊ/ is a city in Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately 150 kilometres north west of the state capital, Melbourne. As of June 2015, Bendigo had an population of 92,888, making it the fourth largest inland city in Australia. The discovery of gold in the soils of Bendigo during the 1850s made it one of the most significant Victorian era boomtowns in Australia, once the alluvial gold had been mined out, mining companies were formed to exploit the rich underground quartz reef gold. It is also notable for its Victorian architectural heritage, the city took its name from the Bendigo Creek and its residents from the earliest days of the goldrush have been called Bendigonians. Although the town flourished in its beginnings as a result of the discovery of gold, however, its growth accelerated in the post-war years and has continued to increase steadily since. Bendigo is the largest finance centre in Victoria outside Melbourne as home to Australias only provincially headquartered retail bank, the original inhabitants of the Mount Alexander area that includes Greater Bendigo were the Dja Dja Wurrung people, who exploited the rich local hunting grounds. These grounds were eventually noticed by white settlers, who established the first of many vast sheep-runs in 1837, the Mount Alexander North sheep-run was bordered by a creek that came to be known as Bendigo, after a local shepherd nicknamed for the English bare-knuckle prizefighter William Abednego Thompson. In 1853, there was a massive protest over the cost of the fee for prospectors, though it passed off peacefully, thanks to good diplomacy by police. From being a tent-city, the boomtown grew rapidly into an urban centre with many grand public buildings. The municipality became a borough in 1863, officially known as Sandhurst until 1891, when the alluvial gold ran out, the goldfields evolved into major mines with deep shafts to mine the quartz-based gold. Bendigo was declared a city in 1871, rapid population growth brought a water shortage, partially solved with a new viaduct that harnessed the Coliban River. The architect William Charles Vahland left an important mark on Bendigo during this period and he is credited with the popular cottage design with verandahs decorated in iron lace, a style that was soon adopted right across the state of Victoria. Vahland also designed more than 80 buildings, including the Alexandra Fountain, arguably the most prominent monument in Bendigo, with its granite dolphins, unicorns, nymphs, a tram network was in use by 1890. After a temporary drop in population, there was renewed growth from the 1930s, as the city consolidated as a manufacturing and regional service centre, recent growth has been most heavily concentrated in areas such as Epsom, Kangaroo Flat, Strathdale and Strathfieldsaye. In 1994 the City of Bendigo was abolished and merged with the Borough of Eaglehawk, the Huntly and Strathfieldsaye shires, the population of the city increased from around 78,000 in 1991 to about 100,617 in 2012. Bendigo is currently one of the fastest growing regional centres in Victoria, the City of Greater Bendigo includes Victorias fourth largest city in Bendigo, as well as a significant rural hinterland. Smaller townships are located at Axedale, Elmore, Goornong, Heathcote, Marong, the city encompasses a total land area of 3,000 square kilometres, of which a significant proportion is national park, regional park, reserve or bushland. Much of the land is used for agricultural purposes, including poultry and pig farming, sheep and cattle grazing
26.
Ding Junhui
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Ding Junhui is a Chinese professional snooker player and the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Ding turned professional in 2003, at the age of 16 and he achieved his first major professional successes in 2005 when he won the China Open and the UK Championship. After his win at the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy, Ding became the player after Ronnie OSullivan. He has so far won a total of 12 major ranking titles, in the 2013/2014 season, Ding equalled Stephen Hendrys record of winning five ranking titles in a single season. He became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championship, known as a prolific break-builder, Ding has compiled more than 400 century breaks in his career including six maximum breaks in professional play. He remains the only Asian player to be ranked number one. Away from snooker, Ding enrolled at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2006 to study Business Administration and he is a resident of England during the snooker season and practises at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. Born in Yixing, Jiangsu in China, Ding began playing snooker at 8 years old after his father, when his father went for a toilet break, Ding took the cue and played with the professional. Upon his fathers return, Ding had won the game, following that moment, Dings parents supported his playing skills. The family then moved to Dongguan, Guangdong, and Ding stopped his education at age 11 to practice snooker for 8 hours each day, in the same year, Ding became the number one ranked player in China. His performance favourably impressed many commentators, who rated him a likely future World Champion. In April 2005, he celebrated his 18th birthday by reaching the final of the China Open in Beijing, along the way defeating world top-16 ranked players Peter Ebdon, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty. In the final, Ding beat then world number 3 Stephen Hendry by 9–5 to score his first ranking tournament win, the match was watched by 110 million people on Chinas national sports channel CCTV-5, the largest television audience recorded for a snooker match. In December 2005, Ding beat Jimmy White, Paul Hunter, in the final, he beat Steve Davis by 10–6 to become the first player from outside the UK to win the tournament. Following this victory, Dings provisional world ranking rose from 62 at the start of the season to 60, at the end of the season, he was ranked number 27. At the 2006 China Open, Ding lost 6–2 in the semi-finals to eventual winner Mark Williams, Dings win in Ireland pushed his provisional ranking up to number 5. In December 2006, Ding won three Gold medals at the 2006 Asian Games, winning the Single, Double and Team Snooker competitions. In the following week, he reached, as the champion, the quarter-finals of the 2006 UK Championship
27.
Barry Hawkins
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Barry Hawkins is an English professional snooker player from Ditton in Kent. He has now spent twelve successive seasons ranked inside the top 32 and he reached his first ranking final and won his first ranking title at the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open. Hawkins has played in the stages of every World Championship since he made his Crucible Theatre debut in 2006. He lost in the first round on his first five appearances, Hawkins has since reached the semi-finals the following two years running. Before taking up snooker professionally he was an office clerk and he reached the Top 32 in the rankings in 2004/2005, having reached the semi-finals of 2005s Welsh Open, as well as the last sixteen of three other tournaments. In 2005/2006, he reached the semi-finals of the Grand Prix and the Welsh Open again and this cemented Hawkins place in the Top 16 of the rankings for the 2006/2007 season. At the World Championship in Sheffield, however, Hawkins faced former Champion Ken Doherty in the first round and he told the BBC that I just couldnt perform and I dont know why. Im gutted after such a season to have performed like that. The 2006/2007 season saw Hawkins disappointed following two strong seasons and he had one foot in his first final against Jamie Cope in the semi final, but Cope was able to obtain the snookers he needed to stay in the match and went on to win 6–5. A first-round defeat by Fergal OBrien at the World Championship cost him his Top 16 place, early in the 2007/2008 season, Hawkins won the qualifying tournament for the 2008 SAGA Insurance Masters, beating Kurt Maflin. He won five matches, also beating top-32 players Nigel Bond. He also reached the last 16 at the Grand Prix, UK Championship and he then won at least his opening match in the next four ranking events, reaching the provisional top 16. From 2006–2010, Hawkinss record at the World Championship was unsuccessful, as well as the aforementioned one-sided defeat by Doherty, Hawkins narrowly lost in the first round the following two years as well, to Fergal OBrien and Ali Carter respectively. Coincidentally, on both occasions Hawkins lost by very close 10–9 defeats, having recovered from 9–6 behind each time, in 2009 Hawkins missed out on a chance to take his match with former champion Graeme Dott to a deciding frame, and lost 10–8. The following year, Hawkins led defending champion John Higgins 5–3 before Higgins won seven of the eight frames to progress. Hawkins played well at the World Open in defeating Mark Selby as well as former World Champion Ken Doherty before losing 3–2 to Mark Williams, Hawkins qualified for the World Championship for the sixth year running, where he was drawn against Stephen Maguire in the first round. Having never won a match at the Crucible before, Hawkins led Maguire 4–0, 5–1, 6–2 and 8–4 before seeing Maguire level the match at 8–8, however, Hawkins held his nerve in the deciding frame to finally end his losing run at the World Championship. In the second round, Hawkins was defeated 13–12 by world No.11 Mark Allen, Hawkins reached the PTC Finals in the 2011/2012 season largely thanks to semi-final runs in Event 3 and Event 5
28.
Joe Perry (snooker player)
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Joe Perry is an English professional snooker player. Often referred to as the Fen Potter and also nicknamed the Gentleman, he was born in Wisbech and he climbed the rankings steadily after turning professional in 1991, and reached the top sixteen for the first time in 2002. His first ranking final came at the 2001 European Open and he had to wait another 13 years for a second came at the 2014 Wuxi Classic. Perry then won his first major ranking title at the 2015 Players Championship Grand Final, at the age of 40, Perrys breakthrough came when he reached the final of the European Open in 2001. Previously, he had reached the last 16 on his Crucible debut in 1999. He reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship in both 2004 and 2005 and this run left Perry provisionally fifth in the world, but he failed to win a match in the remaining five tournaments and dropped to 14th at the end of the season as a result. In 2005, he lost to eventual champion Ding Junhui and he followed that up by reaching the semi-finals of the world championship, where he was knocked out by Ali Carter 17–15. These results ensured him a return to the prestigious top 16 of the rankings and he also finished the 2007/2008 season on another high, by winning the Championship League, to qualify for the Betfred Premier League for 2008. He has said he feels that he is learning to cope with the pressure of major tournaments. Perry opened 2008-09 with three last-sixteen runs, leaving him inside the top eight of the provisional rankings, however he went one better in the UK Championship beating Ronnie OSullivan 9–5 having trailed by 5–3, in one of the best victories of his career. However, he lost 9–7 to Marco Fu in the quarter-finals, in the new year he lost very narrowly to OSullivan in the Masters, the rest of the season was unspectacular as he failed to win a match in a ranking event. He was unable to repeat his 2008 run in the World Championship losing 10–6 to an in-form Jamie Cope in the first round and this meant that he finished the season ranked at number 12. In 2009/2010 he only reached one quarter-final and consequently slid to 19th in the rankings, in the World Championship he beat Michael Holt 10–4 and trailed Ali Carter 10–6 before winning five frames on a row to lead 11–10 but lost 13–11. Perry was a losing finalist in Event 1 and Event 12 during the minor-ranking 2011/2012 Players Tour Championship series and these results helped him qualify for the Finals as he finished 11th on the Order of Merit. In the other ranking events during the year he reached the round three times, culminating in a 7–13 defeat to Maguire in the World Championship. Perry finished the season ranked world number 24 and he began the 2012/2013 season by reaching the second round of the Wuxi Classic thanks to the withdrawal of Matthew Stevens and lost 4–5 to Ricky Walden. He was beaten 1–5 by Marco Fu in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and he beat Barry Pinches in qualifying, Stevens 5–2 in the first round and then whitewashed Neil Robertson 5–0 to make the quarter-finals. There was never a frame between Perry and Mark Williams in their quarter-final, with Perry making a 131 break to force a deciding frame which he lost
29.
Stephen Maguire
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Stephen Maguire is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has been a professional player since 1998, ranked in the top 16 consecutively for 11 years from 2005 to August 2016. He has won five ranking tournaments, including the UK Championship in 2004. As a prolific break-builder, Maguire has compiled more than 300 century breaks, Maguire began his career on the UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. Maguire was the winner of the 2004 European Open. Ranked 41 in the world at the time, he well established top-16 player Jimmy White 9–3 in the final. The start of the 2004/2005 season saw Maguire establish himself as one of the games brightest talents and he performed well at the season opening Grand Prix, reaching the quarter-finals, and things improved further at the British Open in Brighton. Although Maguire lost the final 6–9 to his compatriot John Higgins, he more than made up for it at the next event, the UK Championship, snookers second biggest tournament. Maguire played some superb snooker on the way to the final, beating the likes of Mark King, Mark Davis, Stephen Lee, Ronnie OSullivan and Steve Davis. Davis described Maguire as inspired, while OSullivan was again rich in his praise for the youngster, in the final, Maguire blazed past David Gray with an emphatic 10–1 win. The rest of the season was an anti-climax of sorts however and he lost against defending champion Ronnie OSullivan 9–10 in their World Championship first-round match, despite having led 9–7, but he still moved up to #3 in the world rankings. In the 2005/2006 season, he reached one quarter-final, showing evidence of a loss in form. In 2007, he recorded his best run at the World Championship reaching the semi-final, Maguire again beat Shaun Murphy in the 2007 UK Championship semi-final 9–5 only to lose 2–10 against Ronnie OSullivan in the final. In the 2008 China Open, he compiled a 147 in narrowly beating his friend Ryan Day 6–5 in the semi-finals, before edging out Shaun Murphy once again in the final by 10 frames to 9. The 2008/2009 season he failed to win an event. His best runs were semi-final appearances in the Shanghai Masters and UK Championship, in the Shanghai Masters he lost narrowly 5–6 against Ronnie OSullivan and in the UK Championship 4–9 against Shaun Murphy. Maguire began the 2009/2010 season by winning the first event of the Pro Challenge Series beating Alan McManus 5–2 in the final, Maguire had to withdraw from the first ranking event, the Shanghai Masters, due to shoulder injury. In the Grand Prix he won his first ranking match of the season, defeating Nigel Bond 5–3, Maguires first event of 2010 was the Masters
30.
2013 World Open (snooker)
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It was the eighth ranking event of the 2012/2013 season, and the first time ITV broadcast a ranking event since the 1993 British Open. Mark Allen defended the title he won in 2012, by defeating Matthew Stevens 10–4 in the final and this was Allens second ranking title. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below and these matches were held between 18 and 21 December 2012 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England. Haikou World Open 2013 – Pictures by World Snooker at Facebook
31.
Andrew Higginson
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Andrew Higginson is an English professional snooker player, currently living in Widnes. He is best known for reaching the final of the 2007 Welsh Open as a virtual unknown, after some success in amateur tournaments, he turned professional for the 2000/2001 season after finishing third on the Challenge Tour. He remained there for five seasons before dropping off, after encountering limited success and he won a place back on the tour for 2006/2007 after finishing second on the Pontins International Open Series. Higginson reached the stages of a ranking tournament for the first time at the 2007 Malta Cup. As he had spent the 2005/2006 season on the secondary Challenge Tour, at the end of the first session of the final, he trailed 2–6 to Neil Robertson. In the second session, Higginson managed to take the lead and change the score to 8–6, but Robertson recovered to level the scores at 8–8 and force a deciding frame, which he won. Higginson earned £20,000 for his 147 break, £2000 for the highest break, despite his good season, Higginson failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championship, losing 9–10 to Ricky Walden in the third qualifying round. His performance in the Welsh Open and Malta Cup brought him to 44th in the 2007/2008 rankings, the following season proved tougher, with Higginson only qualifying for one event – the 2008 Welsh Open again. However, he qualified for the 2008 Grand Prix, losing 0–5 to Mark Selby in the last 32. He then beat Jamie Jones and Michael Judge to make his Crucible debut in the 2009 World Championship, giving eventual finalist Shaun Murphy a test, leading 7–6 before losing 8–10. Higginson won his first professional title during the 2011/2012 season at the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship Event 5 and he played in all 12 of the PTC events and finished 6th on the Order of Merit, comfortably inside the top 24 who qualified for the Finals. At the Finals he beat Jamie Jones and Xiao Guodong, before losing to Stephen Lee 2–4 in the semi-finals and he qualified for all but three of the other ranking events during the season. He finished the season by reaching the last 16 of the World Championship after defeating Stephen Lee 10–6 in the first round, there he trailed Jamie Jones 6–10 after two sessions, but rallied to level at 10–10, before Jones won three successive frames to take the match 13–10. Higginson finished the season ranked world number 18, meaning he had climbed 7 places during the year and he was then whitewashed by Steve Davis in the qualifying for Shanghai Masters, making it three consecutive first round defeats for him. Higginson broke the streak by beating David Gilbert to reach the draw of the International Championship. He suffered yet another whitewash in UK Championship qualifying, losing 0–6 to Liang Wenbo, Higginson went on to finish 13th on the PTC Order of Merit to qualify for the Grand Final for the third year in a row. Higginsons form improved in the half of the season as he qualified for five of the six remaining ranking tournaments of the season. At the PTC Finals Higginson was leading eventual tournament winner Ding Junhui 3–1 in the first round and his season however ended in disappointment as he was beaten 4–10 by Michael White in the final round of World Championship Qualifying, to finish it ranked world number 22
32.
2013 World Snooker Championship
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The 2013 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2013 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 37th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and was the last ranking event of the 2012/2013 season, the event was sponsored by Betfair for the first time. Despite having played one competitive match all season, defending champion Ronnie OSullivan did not lose a session in the tournament. He defeated Barry Hawkins 18–12 in the final to become a five-time World Champion, joining Steve Davis and he broke Hendrys record of 127 career Crucible centuries, finishing the tournament with 131. He also became the first player to make six century breaks in a World Championship final, the tournament was sponsored by online betting exchange Betfair. On 26 April 2013, the first Ladies Day was held at the Crucible, with events designed to promote the sport to girls, debutants at the Crucible were Jack Lisowski, Michael White, Ben Woollaston, Dechawat Poomjaeng, Matthew Selt and Sam Baird. White advanced to the round by beating Mark Williams 10–6. Poomjaeng advanced by beating Stephen Maguire 10–9 in the only match that went to a deciding frame. After a record four Chinese players reached the Crucible in 2012, Poomjaeng became only the third Thai player, after James Wattana and Tai Pichit, to reach the Crucible. By qualifying for the event, Peter Ebdon played in his 22nd consecutive World Championship and they are second behind the record of 27 set by Stephen Hendry. With the match also unavailable on the BBC Red Button service, the CEO of World Snooker, Barry Hearn, apologised to fans on Twitter. The second session of the first round match between Ebdon and Graeme Dott had to be pulled off, with Dott leading 8–6. Following Dotts 10–6 victory, he criticised Ebdon for his slow play. The match between Poomjaeng and Maguire also had to be finished off in a session, with Poomjaeng leading 9–8 when the end was postponed. Dotts second round defeat to Shaun Murphy meant there were no Scottish players in the last eight for the first time since 1988, White reached his first ranking event quarter-final by defeating Poomjaeng 13–3 with a session to spare. Poomjaeng lost the fourth frame of the match after three failed attempts to hit visible red balls whilst using the spider to bridge over the blue, ricky Walden reached his first Crucible quarter-final by defeating Robert Milkins 13–11. Milkins trailed 3–9, but fought back to 10–11 and 11–12, Barry Hawkins also reached his first Crucible quarter-final after defeating world number one Mark Selby 13–10. In the quarter-finals, OSullivan took 12 of the first 13 frames against Stuart Bingham, judd Trump battled back from 3–8 behind against Murphy to win 13–12 after a dramatic 53-minute deciding frame
33.
Aditya Mehta
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Aditya Mehta is an Indian professional snooker player. He practises with Alfie Burden and Anthony Hamilton in London, in 2013, Mehta became the first Indian to reach the final of a ranking tournament at his home event, the Indian Open. In the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic, Mehta made his first ever Maximum break in professional competition, Mehta began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. He was nominated for a Main Tour place for the 2008/2009 season and he was the first Indian to play on Main Tour since Yasin Merchant did in the 1990s. He fell off the tour at the end of the season, aditya won a Silver and a Bronze medal in Mens Snooker Team and Mens Snooker Singles respectively, at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. In the 2011/2012 season Mehta would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the main draws of all ranking events and he came closest to doing so in the second event of the season, the Shanghai Masters. Mehta beat Stuart Carrington 5–0, Rod Lawler and Jamie Jones both 5–4, before losing to world number 6 Ryan Day 2–5. In April, Mehta won the 2012 Asian Snooker Championship with a 7–5 victory over compatriot Pankaj Advani, Mehta started the season by almost qualifying for the first tournament of the season, the Wuxi Classic. He beat Sam Baird 5–3, James Wattana and Jimmy White both 5–1, but then lost out to Jamie Cope 4–5 in the final round and he also lost in the final qualifying round for the Shanghai Masters following a 3–5 defeat to Mark King. Mehta reached the stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career in August. He overcame Michael Leslie and Mike Dunn, both by 6–3 scorelines, and then back from 3–5 down to beat Jimmy White for the second time this season. In the last round he gained revenge over Jamie Cope following his loss at the stage in the Wuxi Classic, by triumphing 6–4 to seal his place at the event in Chengdu, China. In his first televised match in a ranking tournament Mehta was outclassed by his opponent as he lost 0–6. However, his run in the tournament matched the best performance by an Indian player in an event set by Yasin Merchant over two decades earlier. The rest of the season was quiet for Mehta as he could not qualify for another event and he finished the season ranked world number 73. In July 2013, Mehta won the World Games by beating Liang Wenbo 3–0 in the final to become the first Indian to win the gold medal, the 2013/2014 season saw the introduction of a ranking event held in India for the first time. Mehta qualified for it by seeing off Xiao Guodong 4–2, in a match heavily bound in tactical play it was Mehta who triumphed with a 4–3 win. His remarkable run continued as he held his nerve from 3–0 up against Stephen Maguire to edge through 4–3 and his tournament came to an abrupt end, however, as he lost 5–0 to Ding Junhui but he did earn a cheque of £25,000 as the tournaments runner-up
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Steve Davis
Ken Doherty
Mark Williams
James Wattana
Joe Swail
