1.
Colchester
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Colchester /ˈkoʊltʃɛstər/ is an historic large town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in the county of Essex. As the oldest recorded Roman town in Britain, Colchester is claimed to be the oldest town in Britain and it was for a time the capital of Roman Britain, and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network. Colchester is some 50 miles northeast of London and is connected to the capital by the A12 road and it is seen as a popular town for commuters, and is less than 30 miles away from Stansted Airport and 20 miles from the passenger ferry port of Harwich. Colchester is home to Colchester Castle and Colchester United Football Club and it has a Conservative Member of Parliament, Will Quince, who was elected in the 2015 General Election. The River Colne runs through the town and it is a widely held belief that the name Colchester is derived from the Latin words Colonia and Castra, meaning fortifications. The earliest forms of the name Colchester are Colenceaster and Colneceastre from the 10th century, in this way of interpreting the name, the River Colne which runs through the town takes its name from Colonia as well. Cologne also gained its name from a similar etymology, ekwall went as far as to say it has often been held that Colchester contains as first element colonia. This derivation is ruled out of court by the fact that Colne is the name of old villages situated a good many miles from Colchester. The identification of Colonia with Colchester is doubtful, from these deposits beneath the town have been found Palaeolithic flint tools, including at least six Acheulian handaxes. Further flint tools made by hunter gatherers living in the Colne Valley during the Mesolithic have been discovered and this included a pit found at Culver Street containing a ritually placed Neolithic grooved ware pot, as well as find spots containing later Deverel-Rimbury bucket urns. Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a centre of power for Cunobelin – known to Shakespeare as Cymbeline – king of the Catuvellauni, who minted coins there. Its Celtic name, Camulodunon, variously represented as CA, CAM, CAMV, CAMVL and CAMVLODVNO on the coins of Cunobelinus, during the 30s AD Camulodunon controlled a large swathe of Southern and Eastern Britain, with Cunobelin called King of the Britons by Roman writers. Camulodunon is considered one of possible sites around Britain for the legendary Camelot of King Arthur. Soon after the Roman conquest of Britain in AD43, a Roman legionary fortress was established, later, when the Roman frontier moved outwards and the twentieth legion had moved to the west, Camulodunum became a colonia named in a second-century inscription as Colonia Victricensis. This contained a large and elaborate Temple to the Divine Claudius, Colchester is home to two of the five Roman theatres found in Britain, the one at Gosbecks being the largest in Britain, able to seat 5,000. Camulodunum served as a provincial Roman capital of Britain, but was attacked and destroyed during Boudicas rebellion in AD61, sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of Britannia. Colchesters town walls c.3,000 yd. long were built c. 65–80 A. D. when the Roman town was rebuilt after the Boudicca rebellion. In 2004, Colchester Archaeological Trust discovered the remains of a Roman Circus underneath the Garrison in Colchester, the Roman town of Camulodunum, officially known as Colonia Victricensis, reached its peak in the Second and Third centuries AD
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
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.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
8.
World Games
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The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events within a sport, that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The World Games are organised and governed by the International World Games Association, the World Games are held every four years, one year after the Summer Olympic Games. The next World Games will be held Wrocław, Poland, in July 2017, other sports have been Olympic sports in the past. Some of the sports that are held at the World Games are acrobatic gymnastics, ultimate, orienteering, body building, powerlifting, finswimming, squash, billiards, water skiing, and dance sport. The sports that are included in the World Games are limited by the facilities available in the host city, between 25 and 30 sports have been included in the official programme of the World Games. In addition, the IWGA, in coordination with the host city, no World Games medals are awarded to invitational sports. To become part of the World Games programme, the sport must be spread in the world. In each sport, only the best athletes or teams may participate, in most classes, it is necessary to qualify by a top ranking at the world championships or a qualification tournament to be able to participate
9.
2017 World Games
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Wrocław was awarded the right on January 12,2012, defeating Budapest, Hungary to host the Games. Wrocław was the city in Europe after London, Karlsruhe, The Hague, Lahti. Four cities had expressed interest in hosting the 2017 Games, after examination of the files, the application of Genoa, Italy was not brought to the next step. The candidate cities have been announced by the IWGA in August 2011 and they are Budapest, Hungary Cape Town, South Africa Wrocław, Poland Just few days before the awarding ceremony Cape Town withdrew its bid for financial reasons. The final decision was announced by Ron Froehlich, President of the International World Games Association on 12 January 2012 in Lausanne, the 10th edition of The World Games was awarded to Wrocław. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of events contested in each sport
10.
Chelmsford
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Chelmsford is the principal settlement of the City of Chelmsford and the county town of Essex, in the East of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately 32 miles northeast of Charing Cross, London, the urban area of the city has a population of approximately 120,000, whilst the district has a population of 168,310. The communities of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Chelmsford, Ontario, and Chelmsford, Chelmsfords population consists of a large number of City and Docklands commuters, attracted by the 30–35 minute journey from Central London via the Great Eastern Main Line. The same journey takes approximately 60 minutes by road via the A12, on 14 March 2012, Lord President of the Privy Council and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that Chelmsford, along with Perth, Scotland and St Asaph, Wales, was to be granted city status. The Letters Patent officially granting city status to Chelmsford from The Queen were received on 6 June 2012, the demonym for a Chelmsford resident is Chelmsfordian. An under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday, is still an important part of the city centre over 800 years later, the citys name is derived from Ceolmaers ford which was close to the site of the present High Street stone bridge. In the Domesday Book of 1086, the town was called Celmeresfort and its position on the Londinium – Camulodonum Roman road ensured the early prosperity of Chelmsford. Before 1199, there were nearby from ancient times. A Neolithic and a late Bronze Age settlement have been found in the Springfield suburb, a Roman fort was built in AD60, and a civilian town grew up around it. The remains of a mansio, a combination post office, civic centre and hotel, lie beneath the streets of modern Moulsham, the town disappeared for a while after the Romans left Britain. The town became the seat of the local assize during the early 13th century and by 1218 it was recognised as the county town of Essex, a position it has retained to the present day. Chelmsford was significantly involved in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, the Sleepers and The Shadows, written by Hilda Grieve in 1988 using original sources, states, For nearly a week, from Monday 1st July to Saturday 6th July, Chelmsford became the seat of government. The king probably lodged at his manor house at Writtle. He was attended by his council, headed by the temporary Chancellor, Richard II famously revoked the charters which he had made in concession to the peasants on 2 July 1381, while in Chelmsford. It could be said that given this movement of government power, the road Saxon Way now marks the site. In the 17th century many of the victims of Matthew Hopkins spent their last days imprisoned in Chelmsford, before being tried at the Assizes, Henry VIII purchased the Boleyn estate in 1516, and built Beaulieu Palace on the current site of New Hall School. This later became the residence of his mistress, and later wife Anne. Soon after it became the residence of Henrys daughter, by his first marriage, during World War II Chelmsford, an important centre of light engineering war production, was attacked from the air on several occasions, both by aircraft of the Luftwaffe and by missile
11.
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
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.
2012 World Snooker Championship
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The 2012 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 21 April to 7 May 2012 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 36th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, Ronnie OSullivan won his fourth world title by defeating Ali Carter 18–11 in the final. John Higgins, the champion, lost 4–13 to Stephen Hendry in the second round. Aged 36, and just 55 days older than Dennis Taylor when winning the title in 1985, on the opening day of the televised stage Hendry made the 88th official maximum break, his third at the Crucible and the 11th of his career. He announced his retirement from professional snooker following his loss to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals, the tournament was sponsored by online casino Betfred. com. Debutants at the Crucible were Jamie Jones, Cao Yupeng, and it was also the first time that Cao and Brecel qualified for the televised stage of a ranking event. Cao and Jones advanced to the round by defeating Mark Allen 10–6 and Shaun Murphy 10–8 respectively. Brecel became the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible and he was also the first Belgian to play at the Crucible. Five Asian players competed in the first round, which is a Crucible record, four were from China and one from Hong Kong. Mark Williams stated on Twitter before the championship, that he hated the Crucible, Williams was subsequently booed as he was announced to the crowd before his opening match. For this comment he was fined a total of £4,000. Stephen Hendry made the 11th maximum break at the Crucible during his first round match with Stuart Bingham and this was the 88th official maximum break. With this he equalled two records of OSullivan, the most official maximum breaks in professional snooker with eleven, zhu Ying became the first Chinese person to referee a match at the Crucible by officiating the match between Hendry and Bingham. Neil Robertson became the player to make three consecutive century breaks at the World Championship, after OSullivan, John Higgins and Mark Selby. Mark Allen, following his defeat by Cao Yupeng, accused his opponent of cheating. Allen claimed that Cao had not admitted to a shot at 5–4. However, he conceded that the Chinese player had outplayed him during the match. World Snooker decided to start action against Allen, who later admitted having gone too far
14.
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
15.
World Open (snooker)
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The World Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. It had previously known as the Professional Players Tournament, the LG Cup. During 2006 and 2007, it was played in a unique format, more similar to association football. The knock-out format returned in 2008 with an FA Cup-style draw, the random draw was abandoned after the 2010 edition. The last champion was Ali Carter, the tournament was created in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, in order to provide another ranking event. Ray Reardon beat Jimmy White by 10 frames to 5 in the final to win the first prize of £5,000, in 1984 Rothmans started sponsoring the tournament, changing its name to the Grand Prix, and moved its venue to the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. The tournament has had various sponsors and venues since, previous sponsors include LG Electronics, who took over in 2001 and changed the tournaments name to the LG Cup. After LG withdrew their sponsorship, the Grand Prix name was revived for 2004 and was sponsored by totesport, between 2006 and 2008 the event was sponsored by Royal London Watches. The tournament was played at the Guild hall in 1998, at the start of the snooker season, prize money for 2005 totalled £400,000, with the winner receiving £60,000. In its original form, the tournament had a flatter structure than most tournaments, with the top 32 players all coming in at the last 64 stage. These facts made it common to see surprise results than in most other tournaments, with players such as Dominic Dale, Marco Fu, Euan Henderson. A player from outside the top 16 has reached the final roughly half the times the contest has been played, few of those have become consistent stars, although Stephen Hendry and John Higgins took their first ranking titles in the event. In addition, over the years, many top 16 players were eliminated in the stages of the contest. The event moved to Scotland at the A. E. C. C. in Aberdeen for 2006, Players were split into groups and played every other player in their group once. The top 2 players progressed, the last 16 and onwards were played as a straight knock-out and this resulted in several surprise results. The format was tweaked for 2007, after complaints that the system was too random. Matches increased in length from best-of-5 to best-of-7, to give the player more chance to win. The main tie-breaker for players level on wins was changed, with frame difference now taking precedence over results between the players who are level on points
16.
Malta Cup
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The European Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It was also known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before the 1988/89 season, there were no ranking events outside the United Kingdom. There were, however, many successful events, so the World Professional Billiards. The first two were held in Canada and mainland Europe, the first European event was the European Open in 1988 in Deauville, France with the sponsorship of ICI. The event then was held at the Palais des Sports in Lyon, France for 1992 and at the Imax Centre in Rotterdam, the event was then moved to Belgium. It was held in Tongeren in 1992 and Antwerp between 1993–1994 with sponsorship from Humo, the event was moved to the first half of the season in 1993/1994, thus there were two events in 1993, in February and December. The event was moved back to its place in the calendar in 1995/1996. The event was not held in the four seasons. In the 1999/2000 season the Malta Grand Prix was the only continental European ranking event, the European Open was revived in 2001/2002 and was held in Valletta, Malta. In 2003 the event was for the first and only held in England. The following year it returned to Malta, this time held in Portomaso, the following season event was renamed the Malta Cup. The 2006 event was the first ranking tournament, where no English player reached the quarter-finals and it became an invitation event in 2007/2008, but it was discontinued afterwards. In 2016, it was announced that the event will be revived under the name European Masters in Romania for the three years. There was only one break in the history of the tournament. At the 1989 event Alain Robidoux compiled it in the first qualifying round against Jim Meadowcroft, Malta Grand Prix Irish Open Antwerp Open 2013 Rotterdam Open German Masters Paul Hunter Classic
17.
James Wattana
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James Wattana is a Thai former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur. A professional between 1989 and 2008 and again from 2009 to 2014, Wattana reached his highest ranking position - 3rd - for the 1994/1995 season. He has won three ranking tournaments - the 1992 Strachan Challenge and the Thailand Open in 1994 and 1995 - and has finished as the runner-up in a further five and he twice reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, in 1993 and 1997. Wattana won his first major tournament, the Camus Thailand Masters, in 1986 and he turned professional in 1989, after winning the 1988 World Amateur Championship. His career peaked in the mid-1990s, when he won the Thailand Open. Prior to Wattana becoming a professional, snooker had been dominated by British players. He was the professional player to earn more than £1 million in prize money. He scored his first one in 1991 at the World Masters and the second at the 1992 British Open, which was then, at six minutes and nine seconds, the fastest ever made. Wattanas success caught the imagination of the Thai public, and he became the most admired sportsman in his home country and he is a Commander Third Class of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, only the second sportsman to receive the countrys most prestigious civilian honour. He reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1993 and 1997, after a strong 2004/2005 season he returned to the top 32 of the world rankings, despite being the first player since 1992 to lose a World Championship match 10–0. He did this in the qualifying round against Allister Carter. By 2007 his continued poor form meant that he dropped off the tour in 2008. He continued to play, however, and in 2008 he entered the World Amateur Championships in Wels and he won the 2009 Asian Championships in Tangshan, China after beating Mei Xiwen 7–3 in the final. His position on the current provisional rankings received a huge boost with a run to the stage of the China Open thanks to four straight qualifying victories. At the end of the season he finished ranked 63, just inside the top 64, in 2014, he lost his place on the professional snooker circuit, as he finished outside the top 64 on the official world rankings list at the end of the 2013/2014 season. However, he was one of three players awarded an invitational tour card for the next season - alongside Hendry and Steve Davis - and has since competed fairly regularly in tournaments as an amateur. In 2015, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 3-10 to Jimmy White. In 2016, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 6-10 to Peter Ebdon. com Player Profile on Pro Snooker Blog Player Profile on billiardindex. com
18.
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
19.
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
20.
Shaun Murphy (snooker player)
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Shaun Murphy is an English professional snooker player, who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed The Magician, Murphy is noted for his cue action. Born in Harlow and raised in Irthlingborough, Murphy turned professional in 1998 and his victory at the World Championship was considered a major surprise as he was only the third qualifier to lift the title. He has also won seven non-ranking tournaments, including the 2015 Masters, Murphy has won over £3 million in prize money and has compiled more than 400 century breaks in his professional career. His highest world ranking was number three, which he maintained for three seasons following 2007/2008, and he is ranked number four. Born in Harlow, England, Murphy began playing snooker at the age of eight after his parents bought him a table for Christmas. He made his first century break at the age of 10 and practised at the Rushden Snooker Centre, where such as Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams. At the age of 13, he secured a five-year £5, 000-a-year sponsorship deal with the Doc Martens shoe company and stated his ambitions of winning the World Championship and he turned professional in 1998 at the age of 15. Murphy was coached by Steve Prest until the 2006/2007 season, willie Thorne and Ray Reardon also gave him guidance, and when he was 15, he was given the latters old cue by his father. Murphy began his career on the UK Tour in 1998, at the time the professional tour. He was runner-up in the event on the UK tour for the 1997/1998 season and, for the 2000/2001 season, won the third and fourth events on the Challenge Tour. In 2000, he received the World Snooker Newcomer of the Year award and one of six Young Player of Distinction of the Year awards from the World Professional Billiards, in 2000, he won the English Open Championship. Murphy won his first professional tournament at the 2000 Benson & Hedges Championship, defeating Mark Davis 6–1 in the semi-final, and Stuart Bingham 9–7 in the final, recovering from 2–5 down. In the 2001 tournament, he showed promise in his first televised match, defeating world number 15, Marco Fu and he made his first maximum break in the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. Murphy first reached the stages of a ranking event at the 2002 World Championship, hosted at the Crucible Theatre. For the 2003/2004 season, Murphy was ranked number 64 and qualified for the stages of three ranking tournaments. In the LG Cup, Murphy defeated Steve Davis 5–4 in the second round, after the victory over Davis, Murphy said This is one of the greatest days in my snooker career. In the British Open, he defeated Dave Harold 5–1 in the first round, in the Players Championship—the new name of the Scottish Open—he lost 3–5 to eventual champion Jimmy White in the second round
21.
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
22.
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
23.
Marco Fu
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Marco Fu Ka-chun MH is a professional snooker player from Hong Kong. He won the 2007 Grand Prix, beating Ronnie OSullivan in the final, and was the runner-up in the 2008 UK Championship and he also won the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open and was runner-up in the 2013 German Masters and 2013 International Championship. In addition, Fu reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice – in 2006, Fus career high world ranking is sixth, achieved in 2013. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled more than 400 century breaks in professional competition, Fu started playing snooker at the age of nine, but did not start playing regularly until he was 15. Fu was born in Hong Kong and migrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, after his high school graduation at age 18, Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council Co. Ltd President Joseph Lo invited him to return to Hong Kong to begin his career as a snooker player. Before turning professional, Fu won the World Amateur and World Under-21 Championships, in 1998, the year he turned professional, Fu reached the final of the Grand Prix, beating Ronnie OSullivan and then Peter Ebdon in the process. An in-form Stephen Lee proved too strong for Fu in the final, defeating him 9–2, when he first turned professional, he was ranked 377th in the world. He was voted WPBSA Newcomer of the Year and WSA Young Player of the Year in 1999, tipped by many pundits as a potential champion of the game, Fus subsequent performance was disappointing, and he slid back down the rankings. In the 1999/2000 season, with Fu now ranked 35 in the world, although he failed to repeat the success of reaching the final of the Grand Prix, he made a credible run to the quarter finals before losing to Allister Carter. Other achievements of note include reaching semi finals of the Malta Grand Prix, in the 2000/2001 season Fu was ranked 15th in the world, his first appearance in the top 16. However, a succession of defeats in the last 16, in the 2001/02 season Fus best result was a last 16 appearance at the LG Cup. He failed to qualify for three ranking events, including the World Championship, and, as a result, his ranking fell to 27 for the following season, however, at the Welsh Open in February 2003, he produced a run to the semi finals. Fu whitewashed Stephen Lee 5–0 in the round and beat Ronnie OSullivan 5–3 in the quarter-finals, before losing his semi-final 6–4 to Stephen Hendry. 1 and runaway favourite Ronnie OSullivan, Fu reached the first of his two World Championship quarter-finals to date. In what Snooker Scene magazine described as one of the greatest upsets in the history of the game, Fu dominated this match from the outset, opening up a 6–3 overnight lead, and although OSullivan made four centuries, Fu never looked to be in trouble and won 10–6. Fu subsequently eliminated Alan McManus 13–7 in the round before losing 7–13 to Stephen Lee in his quarter-final match. In 2003, Fu also won his first title since turning professional in the invitational Premier League and this was the first time the title went outside of the British Isles
24.
Steve Davis
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Steve Davis, OBE is an English former professional snooker player from Plumstead, London.5 million British viewers. He is a known public figure and is generally viewed by his peers as one of the greatest players of all time. In addition to his six titles, Daviss career achievements include three Masters and a record six UK Championship titles. He won a total of 28 ranking events and made over £5.6 million in prize money, Davis compiled more than 300 competitive century breaks, including the first officially recognised maximum break in professional competition, in 1982. During the 1987/1988 season, he became the first player to complete snookers Triple Crown by winning the UK Championship, Masters and his other accomplishments include winning the World Doubles Championship four times with Tony Meo and winning the World Team Classic/World Cup four times with England. Davis won his last world title in 1989, and captured his last major title when he won the 1997 Masters at the age of 39, but he continued to play snooker at a high level into his 50s. He reached the final of the 2005 UK Championship at the age of 48 and was ranked inside the top 16 when he turned 50 during the 2007/2008 season. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Championship at the age of 52 and he won the World Seniors Championship in 2013. On 17 April 2016, after failing to qualify for the 2016 World Snooker Championship, outside snooker, Davis has competed in pool tournaments, notably playing on Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup between 1994 and 2004, helping the team win the event in 1995 and 2002. He is also noted for his participation in events, having reached the final stages of several televised tournaments. Since 1996 he has been a broadcaster with Phoenix FM and an expert in the progressive rock genres of Zeuhl, RIO. A keen amateur chess player, he co-authored a chess book with grandmaster David Norwood and is a president of the British Chess Federation. He has also published books on snooker, including three autobiographies, one technical book and one comedy book called How To Be Really Interesting. He has appeared on a number of popular British TV shows and he was made an MBE in the 1988 Birthday Honours and an OBE in the 2000 New Year Honours. Davis was introduced to snooker by his father Bill, a player, who took him to play at his local working mens club at the age of 12. They studied the book and built Steve Daviss own technique on it in the 1970s, Hearn became Davis friend and manager. Paid £25 a match by Hearn, Davis toured the country, taking part in matches against established professionals such as Ray Reardon, John Spencer. Around this time he was given the nickname Nugget because, according to Hearn, you could put your case of money on him, Davis won the English Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976
25.
John Parrott
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John Parrott, MBE is an English former professional snooker player and television personality, remembered as one of the best players in the early 1990s. Parrott won the World Snooker Championship in 1991, defeating Jimmy White in the final, two years earlier he had lost 3–18 to Steve Davis, the heaviest final defeat in modern times. He repeated his win over White to add the UK Championship title later that year, until the age of 12 Parrott was a keen bowls player but then discovered snooker and has been a keen player ever since. At the age of 15 his talent was spotted by Phil Miller who would become his manager in 1980. Parrott was successful at an early age and he lost in the final of the English Under-16s Championship in 1980 and won the Pontins Junior Championship in 1981. He then caused a stir when he won the match 5–2 and he then beat Tony Knowles in the next round before losing to Steve Davis in the semi-finals. By then, bookmakers had him tipped to be the World Snooker Champion within five years and he took his first ranking title in the 1989 European Open, and defended his title in 1990. Parrott also boasts 14 consecutive seasons in the top 16 of the world rankings. From 1984 to 2004 Parrott was ever-present at the World Championship, reaching at least the last 16 every year from 1984 to 1995, since his 1991 victory he has never again reached the semi-finals, but lost in the quarter-finals seven times between 1992 and 1999. Overall, Parrott has won a total of nine world ranking events, also, his 1991 triumphs in the World Championship and UK Championship make him one of only five players to win both of snookers two most prominent ranking titles in the same year. Parrott has come through the event for the World Championship a record 10 times. In 2007 he reached the last 16 of the World Championship for the first time in seven years, after victories over James Leadbetter, David Gray, a record ten of Parrotts World Championship matches have gone to a final-frame decider – he has won 7 of these. Also, John Parrott is the player to have recorded a whitewash in the World Championship final stages – he beat Eddie Charlton 10–0 in the first round in 1992. Because of Hendrys dominance, Parrott was the runner-up at the Masters on three occasions within a span, and never won the title. On 4 August 2009 at the qualifiers for the 2009 Shanghai Masters he lost 0–5 against Michael White, later Parrott announced he was to retire from the professional game. He told the Daily Mail, If Im off the tour, I certainly wont be playing any lower down. If I lose my card, thats me gone, I still have the utmost respect for the game. Ive just lost in the World Championship and Im not going to spit the dummy out, but I dont enjoy the hours of practice any more
26.
Ryan Day
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Ryan Day is a Welsh professional snooker player. As a prolific break-builder, he has compiled more than 250 century breaks during his career, Day was born in Pontycymer, Bridgend, and began his professional career by playing UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. He is named Young Player of Distinction of the season 2000/2001 by the World Professional Billiards and he won the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. With this win, he qualified for the 2002 Masters, where he defeated Dave Harold and he also won the WPBSA Challenge Tour in the 2001/2002 season and was named WPBSA Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Due to problems with his liver in 2003, his results suffered badly, Higgins went on to win the frame and the next two for the match. As some consolation, Higgins commented that Day was going to be a top player for years to come. Day reached the quarter-finals of his tournament, the 2005 Welsh Open defeating Allister Carter. He finished this season ranked 33, but as Quinten Hann did not participate in any events, Day was always among the top 32 seeds, meaning one less qualifying match than he would otherwise have faced. Back at the Crucible in 2006, he beat Joe Perry 10–3 in the first round and he narrowly missed reaching the top 16 of the rankings as a result. The 2006/2007 season was the most successful of his career to date, Day reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and was runner up in the 2007 Malta Cup, losing 4–9 to Shaun Murphy. That years performance saw him ranked 16 in the world for the 2007/2008 season, as a member of the Top 16, he automatically qualified for tournaments. His consistent performances took him up to 8th place in the rankings, Day reached the final of the 2008 Grand Prix where he lost to John Higgins, defeating Ricky Walden, Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Ali Carter. The year ended on a note when he lost in the first round at the UK Championship to Matthew Stevens. He again reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2009, before losing 11–13 to Mark Allen, however, he continued to move up the rankings, climbing 2 places to number 6, the highest ranked player not to have won a ranking event. A disappointing 2009/2010 season in which he reached only one quarter-final and this continued into the next season where he made a number of early exits which meant that at the first revision under the new ranking system he dropped out the top 16, down to number 20. Day qualified for five of the eight ranking tournaments during the 2011/2012 season and his best performance came at the end of the season in the biggest event on the tournament calendar, the World Championship. He came back from 3–7 down in his match against Gerard Greene to win 10–8, to set up a first round match with Chinas number 1. Day produced another comeback, this time from trailing 6–9 to win the last 4 frames, there he beat fellow qualifier Cao Yupeng 13–7 and held a 5–2 lead in the early stages of his quarter-final match against compatriot Matthew Stevens
27.
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
28.
Jimmy White
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James Warren Jimmy White, MBE is an English professional snooker player. Whites non-world championship achievements include the UK Championship, the Masters, a two-time winner of both the World Cup and the British Open, White was also the first left-handed player, and second player overall, to record a maximum break at the World Championship. White was born in Streathbourne Road, Tooting, London, England and he never achieved academic success, as he was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine, spending more and more time at Zans, Ted Zanoncellis snooker hall. The club was known as Zans and after Teds death in 1978 it was handed down to his daughter. It was around this time that White met Tony Meo with whom he would compete in matches in many venues. His natural aptitude for snooker led to an amateur career. With a host of major titles and achievements, including ten ranking tournaments, the BBC describes him as a legend. A left-hander, he reached the World Professional Championship Final on six occasions, nonetheless, his consistency waned in the 2000s and a first-round defeat in the 2006 World Championship saw White drop out of the worlds top 32 player rankings. Whites continued slide down the rankings saw him drop to 65th, White is one of only six players to have completed a maximum break at the Crucible Theatre, doing so in the 1992 World Snooker Championship. He has compiled more than 300 century breaks during his career, White established himself as a top professional in 1981. The World Championship has provided the theatre for Whites greatest disappointments, in 1982, he led Alex Higgins 15–14 in their semi-final, was up 59–0 in the penultimate frame and was a red and colour away from the final. After missing a red with the rest, however, he could watch as Higgins compiled a frame-winning 69 break. Higgins won the frame that followed to reach the final. In 1984 White won the Masters for the time to date. He followed this success by reaching his first World Championship final, trailing Steve Davis 4–12 after the first two sessions, White responded by reducing the deficit to 15–16. He then made a clearance of 65 to take the score to 16–17, but was unable to build upon a 40-point lead in the following frame. White did, however, become a World Doubles Champion later that year when he and Alex Higgins defeated Willie Thorne, in 1986 White reached his second Masters final, but was defeated by Cliff Thorburn. However he won the Classic and also retained the Irish Masters title he won in 1985, White won the Classic when he beat Thorburn in the final frame after needing a snooker
29.
Graeme Dott
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Graeme Dott is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001 and he has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship and the 2007 China Open, and was runner-up in the World Championships of 2004 and 2010. He reached number 2 in the rankings in 2007, but a subsequent episode of clinical depression seriously affected his form. He then recovered his form, regained his ranking. In 2011, he published his autobiography, Frame of Mind, after winning the UK Under-19 Championship in 1992 and Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993, Dott turned professional in 1994. He slowly climbed the rankings, reaching the top sixteen in 2001, early successes included reaching the quarter-final of the 1996 Welsh Open and qualifying for the World Championship for the first time in 1997. Dott was a runner-up in the 1999 Scottish Open, the 2001 British Open, the 2004 World Championship and he scored his only competitive 147 break in the 1999 British Open. Dott started his campaign with an easy 10–3 victory over former champion John Parrott and his quarter-final match was against Australias Neil Robertson, and after leading 12–8, he was pegged back to 12–12, before edging through the deciding frame, winning the tie 13–12. In the semi-finals he faced former two-time champion Ronnie OSullivan in a rematch of the 2004 final, at 8–8 after the second session of four sessions, OSullivan failed to win a single frame in the third session and Dott dominated play to win easily 17–11. Dott faced Peter Ebdon in the final for the £200,000 prize and he began the last session of the match leading 15–7, but Ebdon won six successive frames to reduce his deficit to two frames. Dott eventually won by 18 frames to 14, after winning some vital frames with marvellous clearances and it was the longest final ever and was, at the time, the latest to finish. The previous record holder was the final frame last black ball finish 1985 final between Englishman Steve Davis and Northern Irishman Dennis Taylor, which finished at 12,19 a. m. The Dott-Ebdon match finished half an hour later, this despite featuring three fewer frames, reflecting the overall pace of the match. The average frame length was such that both afternoon sessions only had six frames, instead of the usual eight, the victory over Ebdon took his ranking up to number 6 for 2006/07 season, a career high at the time. Dott shone in the 2006 UK Championship as well, reaching the semi-finals, Dott briefly became the provisional world number one in the rankings system after overcoming Jamie Cope 9–5 to win the 2007 China Open, his second ranking tournament win. Prior to this, he disliked going to China, not helped by a match in 2002. Newly crowned world champion John Higgins overtook him, the loss against McCulloch also maintained the Crucible Curse, as Dott became the seventeenth consecutive first-time champion to lose his title the very next year. The 2007/2008 season was more of a struggle for Dott, who described his form as hopeless
30.
Anthony Hamilton (snooker player)
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Anthony Stephen Hamilton is an English professional snooker player noted for his strong break-building technique and distinctive appearance. He has spent five seasons ranked among the games top 16, known as a prolific break builder, Hamilton has compiled more than 250 competitive century breaks during his career. Having long been considered by many as the best player to never win a tournament, Hamilton won his first title in 2017. Hamilton turned professional in 1991, entering the worlds top 32 in 1995/1996, Hamilton has reached two ranking tournament finals. In the British Open in 1999, where he lost to Fergal OBrien, the other was the 2001 China Open. Mark Williams beat him 9–8, despite Hamilton having led 8–5 and he made the first of his four World Championship quarter-finals in 2000, losing 3–13 to John Higgins. He reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship on three occasions, but without reaching the semi-final stage. In 2002, he lost 6–13 to eventual winner Peter Ebdon, in 2004, he made two consecutive century breaks to come from 0–2 down to level at 2–2 in his quarter-final against eventual champion Ronnie OSullivan, but eventually lost the match by 3–13. Hamiltons 438 points scored in this match are a low for a World Championship Quarter-final. He also has the highest ever total in a first-round match at the Crucible,1271 against Chris Small in 1999. In 1997 he reached the round, facing John Parrott at this stage he scored 414 unanswered points in frames 1–5. Hamilton did not fare well in the 2006 World Championship, losing 1–10 in the round to Mark Williams. However, a two seasons ensured that he reclaimed a top 16 place. Hamilton began the 2006/2007 season at the Northern Ireland Trophy, losing 3–5 against Ding Junhui, at the Grand Prix Hamilton lost all five of his group stage matches, and didnt advance to the knockout stage. Hamilton then lost 7–9 against Rod Lawler in the first round of the UK Championship, 3–6 in the round of the Masters. Hamilton than lose in the first round of the China Open 4–5 against Mark Selby, Hamilton reached his fourth World Championship quarter-final, pulling off a surprise 10–3 victory over Marco Fu in round 1, and a 13–8 second round win over Ian McCulloch. However, he couldnt advance to the stage, losing 7–13 to Stephen Maguire. As a result, he did not retain his top sixteen place, Hamilton began the 2007/2008 season at the Shanghai Masters, where he lost 4–5 against Adrian Gunnell in the last qualifying round
31.
Joe Swail
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Joe Swail is a professional snooker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships, Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and N. Ireland amateur runner-up and he was Irish champion in 2005. Swail has had a mixed history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season, before sliding out of the Top 32 after winning just two matches in 1997/1998. His 2000 Crucible achievement made him the player to return to the Top 16 in the rankings after dropping out of the Top 32 in between. He climbed to No.10 after his 2001 semi-final, but dropped to 16–27–30–40 in the few years. He then bounced back with an impressive and consistent showing in 2005/2006 that brought him back into the Top 32 and this caused him to again miss the top 16, finishing the season in 20th place. He started 2008/2009 poorly, with four successive first-round defeats and his first victory of the season was against Liang Wenbo in qualifying for the 2008 UK Snooker Championship. He then reached his first ever ranking final in his 18-year professional career at the 2009 Welsh Open, Swail led the match 5–2, but never won another frame, losing 9–5 to Ali Carter. After finishing 69th the end of the 2011/2012 season, outside of the top 64 that retain their professional status, as an amateur, Swail played in many of the Players Tour Championship events. At the Paul Hunter Classic, Swail defeated players such as Jimmy White, Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins en route to the final, in the final, he was defeated 1–4 by Mark Selby. This not only booked his place on the tour for the season, but also qualified him for the PTC Finals in Galway, Ireland. He lost 0–4 in the Last 16 to fellow Northern Irishman Mark Allen and he lost his Last 64 match against Mark Joyce 7–10, picking up £4,600 for his efforts. After regaining his professional status due to his performances in the previous seasons PTC events, Swail was able to play in ranking events during the season. He lost in the Last 96 of the Wuxi Classic, 2–5 to Ken Doherty, in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, he beat Darren Cook 5–2, Swail is known for his very unorthodox way of cueing up. Instead of keeping his cue-arm vertical as most players do, Swail cues up with his arm bent at least 45 degrees outwards, and his elbow towards his back. Although it appears to be difficult to actually pot balls when cueing like that it has worked for Swail
32.
Liang Wenbo
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Liang Wenbo is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is left-handed and currently ranked as Chinas number 2 player after Ding Junhui, Liang is based at the Legends Snooker Academy in Leytonstone, England, United Kingdom. 4 runner-up Liang built on the start to his snooker career, winning an individual silver medal. During the 2004/05 snooker season, he began his career playing on the Challenge Tour. He finished a lowly 104th out of 168 competitors, having only accumulated 2150 points, in his first ranking tournament, the Grand Prix, Liang lost in the first qualifying round to Rory McLeod 2–5. It was to be at the Welsh Open where Liang would qualify for his first ranking event, beating Sean Storey, Jamie Burnett and he beat Nigel Bond in the first round of the main draw 5–0. His run was halted by Graeme Dott, Liang losing 3–5, however at the Malta he lost in the first qualifying round to Paul Davies 3–5. At the China Open he beat David McDonnell and Matthew Couch before losing against Adrian Gunnell 3–5 in the qualifying round. He ended the season falling at the first hurdle at the World Championship, during the 2006/07 season, Liang reached at least the second round of qualifying in every ranking event. At the Northern Ireland Trophy he beat Robert Stephen 5–0 before falling to David Gilbert 0–5 in qualifying, however, at the Grand Prix, Liang came top of his qualifying group, above more experienced players such as Gerard Greene and Barry Pinches. He finishing fourth in the group, and although he did not qualify for the round, he did beat former world champion. At the UK Championship, he lost in the round of qualifying to Jamie Burnett 7–9. In the following ranking event, the Malta Cup, he lost to Joe Jogia 3–5 and he qualified for his third ranking tournament, at the Welsh Open by beating Dene OKane, Joe Jogia and Mark Davis. In the Last 48, he met Nigel Bond again, this time he lost only 3–5 and he continued his run of reaching the second round of qualifying in every ranking tournament at the China Open, beating Robert Stephen before losing to Finlands Robin Hull. At the World Championship he beat Jeff Cundy before losing to Mike Dunn. After a modest season, he improved on his ranking by finishing in 66th place, just outside the top 64. Liangs season started brightly, he qualified for the Shanghai Masters. At the Grand Prix, he could not repeat the success of last season and failed to qualify, the next tournament the Northern Ireland Trophy brought more luck, he won through the qualifying beating Fraser Patrick, Joe Delaney and Rory McLeod on the way
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England
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