1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
Matthew Stevens
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Matthew Stevens is a Welsh professional snooker player. Stevens has won two of the games most prestigious events, the Benson and Hedges Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003 and he has also been the runner-up in the World Snooker Championship on two occasions, in 2000 and 2005. Stevens reached a high ranking of No.4 for the 2005/2006 season. As a prolific break-builder, Stevens has compiled more than 250 century breaks during his career, Stevens turned professional in 1994 and in his second season won the Benson & Hedges Championship to qualify for the 1996 Masters. At the Masters he beat Terry Griffiths 5–3 but lost 6–5 to Alan McManus, the following season he also showed potential by beating Stephen Hendry 5–1 in the Grand Prix. In the 1997/1998 season he reached the semi-finals of both the Grand Prix and UK Championship and he also reached the quarter-finals on his debut at the Crucible of the World Championship, beating Alain Robidoux and Mark King before losing to Ken Doherty. In 1998 he reached his first ranking final at the UK Championship, in 2000, he won the Masters, with a 10–8 win over Ken Doherty in the final. Later that season at the World Championship he reached the first of his two World Championship finals to date. After victories over Tony Drago, Alan McManus, Jimmy White and Joe Swail he faced Mark Williams losing 16–18 after having led 10–6, 13–7 and then 14–10 with only the final session to play. Stevens became only the player in the history of the world championship to lose in the final from holding a 4 frame overnight lead. He has also been a beaten semi-finalist on four occasions in 2001,2002,2004 and 2012, Stevens missed the pot and Ebdon made a famous clearance to win the frame, and went on to take the next two to win the match 17–16. Stevens won the 2003 UK Championship beating Stephen Hendry 10–8 in the final and he trailed Hendry 0–4, but remarkably he reeled off the next five frames. Hendry found his form again to lead 7–5, but Stevens was not to be denied and clinched a 10–8 victory, which remains the only ranking tournament victory of his career. However, he followed this with a run of nine successive first round defeats in best-of-nine matches, in 2005 he was again runner-up, losing 16–18 to Shaun Murphy in the final, having been up 10–6 and then 12–11 with only the final session to play. Again Stevens relinquished a 4 frame overnight lead to lose in the final, the turning point was arguably the 22nd frame, in which Stevens had a shot at the final blue to leave Murphy needing snookers, but elected to play the shot left-handed rather than use the rest. He missed, and Murphy cleared the table to level the match at 11–11, despite the disappointment, Stevens insisted that Murphy had simply been the better player and that he would eventually win the championship. The following year, Stevens was beaten by Ken Doherty 13–8 in the second round, having gone into the final session level at 8–8. In 2007 he lost 12–13 to Murphy in the quarter-finals of the World Championship having led 11–5 and 12–7, the defeat left him ranked outside of the top 16 for the first time in 8 years
10.
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
11.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
12.
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
13.
Stephen Lee (snooker player)
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Stephen Lee is an English former professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1992 and was ranked in the top 16 between the 1997/1998 and 2007/2008 snooker seasons, reaching a career-high of fifth in the rankings. He won four ranking titles between 1998 and 2006, reached the semi-finals of the 2003 world championship and the final of the 2008 Masters. Thereafter, his form declined dramatically and as a result he dropped out of the top 16 after a run of consecutive seasons. A return to form in the 2011/2012 season saw Lee reach two finals in ranking tournaments and collect his fifth title, as well as regaining his top 16 seeding. Lee was a heavy break-builder compiling 176 competitive century breaks during his career, Lees playing career came to a premature end when he was suspended from WSA competition on 12 October 2012 on match-fixing charges. He was found guilty by an independent tribunal in September 2013 of influencing the outcome of seven matches in 2008 and 2009 and he received a twelve-year ban backdated to the start of his suspension and which will run until 12 October 2024. Stephen Lee turned professional after winning the English Amateur Championship in 1992, during his first season as a professional he had a run of 33 successive frames won during qualifying matches, an all-time professional record. He reached the Top 16 of the five years later. He entered the Top 8 after winning his first ranking title during the 1998/1999 season and his first ranking title and first two ranking semi-finals were all achieved without beating a top-16 player. Lee was favourite to win the 2001 Masters, but lost 5–6 in the first round to John Parrott and he was part of the England team which won the 2001 Nations Cup. His best run in the World Championship came in the 2003 event when he reached the semi-finals, due to a dip in form, at the 2006 Welsh Open he came to the competition outside the provisional Top 16 after failing to win a ranking tournament for four years. He went on to win the tournament, beating the then World Champion, Shaun Murphy, for 2007/2008 he slipped to No.13 in the rankings after reaching just one semi-final, partly due to missing the China Open for personal reasons. He nevertheless reached the final of the 2008 Masters, losing 3–10 to Mark Selby, following a heavy defeat by Joe Swail in the first round of the 2008 World Championship, confirming his drop out of the top 16 of the rankings, Lee considered retiring from the game. He then failed to qualify for the Shanghai Masters, losing 4–5 to Tom Ford and he reached the televised stages of the 2009 World Championship by defeating Judd Trump in qualifying, but was beaten 10–4 in the first round by Ryan Day. On 11 February 2010 Lee was arrested by West Midlands Police on suspicion of cheating, during the 2010/2011 season Lee managed to regain some form including a win in Event 4 of the EPTC events. However, he drew John Higgins in the first round at both the UK Championship and World Championship, losing on both occasions with Higgins going on to win both events. At the China Open he drew Mark Williams in the first round and despite Williams making four centuries he won 5–4 and he went on to reach the quarter-finals, where he lost to Ding Junhui 5–2
14.
Alan McManus
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Alan McManus is a Scottish professional snooker player. He also won the 1994 Masters, ending Stephen Hendrys five-year and he was ranked in the Top 16 from 1990 to 2006, dropping out after an unsuccessful 2005/2006 season. He has reached twenty-one professional semi-finals, but won four events. He has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship three times, but has never appeared in a final, until 2005, McManus had gone eleven years without reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament, despite consistent achievements in other events. His last major final was at the 2002 LG Cup at the Preston Guild Hall where he lost 5–9 to fellow-countryman Chris Small, a series of poor results in the 2005–2006 season saw him drop out of the top 16 for the first time since 1991. He reached the semi-finals of the 2006 Snooker Grand Prix, losing to Neil Robertson and he lost a World Championship qualifier 10–9 to journeyman Joe Delaney in 2007. This loss of form saw him drop out of the top 16. His poor form reached a trough in the 2009/2010 season, where he failed to qualify for any of the stages of the tournaments he took part in. McManus was unable to qualify for any of the venues during the 2011/12 season. He was beaten in the quarter-final 5–3 by compatriot Stephen Maguire, McManus put in a good performance, he ultimately lost 3–5, but picked up valuable ranking points in the process. He made a start to the Players Tour Championship, reaching the quarter-finals of the first event. He carried this form to the PTC event 2, once again reaching the quarter-finals before losing 1–4 to eventual runner-up Stephen Maguire. However, McManus only managed four last-32 results from the rest of the events and he then defeated 1995 World finalist Nigel Bond 10–8 in the penultimate qualifying round. In the final qualifying round he led Tom Ford 5–4 after the first session, in the first round he lost to Ding Junhui 5–10, picking up £12,000 for his efforts. McManus earned £49,442 during the 2012/2013 season, at the start of the 2013/2014 season McManus was ranked 49th in the World Rankings. At the 2013 Wuxi Classic qualifiers he won his match against Darryl Hill 5–3 to qualify for the last 64 of the event held in Wuxi, at the venue he defeated Ken Doherty 5–3 before losing to Dave Gilbert 2–5. At the first Asian Tour event, he bested players such as Michael White before beating local favorite Ding Junhui 4–2 in the last 16. He then defeated Yu Delu 4–1 in the quarter-finals, in the semi-final he lost to eventual winner Joe Perry 2–4, McManus qualified for the inaugural Indian Open, beating amateur Sydney Wilson 4–1 in qualifying
15.
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
16.
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
17.
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
18.
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
19.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
20.
Ian McCulloch (snooker player)
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Ian McCulloch is a former English professional snooker player from Walton-Le-Dale, Preston, Lancashire. He is known for his ability to grind opponents down through protracted safety exchanges and he compiled 105 century breaks in his career. McCulloch turned professional in 1992, and after climbing up the rankings for many years. He also made his debut in the Crucible stages of the 1999 World Championship, like Barry Pinches he entered his best form in his early 30s. He reached two ranking event finals – the 2002 British Open and the 2004 Grand Prix in his home town. He beat David Gray to qualify for the 2003 World Championship in a clash between players who share their names with musicians, and went on to reach the finals in 2004. He went one further in 2005, losing 14–17 to Matthew Stevens in the semi-final, beating Mark Williams. His 2005/2006 season proved disappointing, with an appearance in the Welsh Open the highlight. He failed to qualify for the World Championship losing to Dave Harold and he made his first appearance as a BBC pundit during the tournament. An improved 2006/2007 campaign included a run in the Grand Prix. He qualified for the World Championship, and in the first round he eliminated defending champion Graeme Dott 10–7, in the 2007 UK Championship he also knocked out the defending champion, by coming from 0–5 down against Peter Ebdon to beat him 9–8 in a remarkable comeback. He lost to Stephen Maguire 5–9 in the last 16 and he missed out on the 2008 World Championship after losing 5–10 to eventual quarter-finalist, Liang Wenbo. The 2008/2009 season was a struggle, with two wins in the first five tournaments. He failed to qualify for the World Championship again, losing to Rory McLeod despite scoring three centuries, after the 2011/12 season he decided to quit the game for good after finishing number 68 in the world. This was in part motivated by a shoulder injury. His best run was at the Welsh Open where he reached the qualifying round before losing to Tom Ford 3-4. On 11 October 2009 he won the Bodensee Open, although he was the professional player taking part. McCulloch is a pundit for William Hill and can be heard in their shops previewing Snooker tournaments
21.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
22.
Ali Carter
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Allister Ali Carter is an English professional snooker player, who lives in Chelmsford. He is a two-time World Championship runner-up, twice losing to Ronnie OSullivan and he has also won four ranking titles and been as high as second in the world rankings. Carter turned professional in 1996 after he retired from pilot job and he first emerged in 1999, winning the WPBSA Association Young Player of the Year award after winning the Benson and Hedges Championship in 1999 – this earned him a wild card place in the Masters. He also reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Grand Prix and it was eight years before he reached another ranking semi-final, the 2007 Malta Cup. He reached the last 16 of the World Championship in 2005, Carter now has a 5–4 record against Hendry, conversely, he has never beaten Ronnie OSullivan in 12 attempts. However, Carter got his own back on Hawkins during the 2008 World Championship by beating him 10–9 in a controversial finale, Hawkins had levelled the match to 9–9, when the players were pulled out of the arena to allow the evening matches to begin. They returned after one of the two matches had been completed – on a table they had not previously played on. Hawkins felt this break interrupted his momentum, handing the match to Carter and he followed this by defeating two former champions in succession, provisional World Number 1 Shaun Murphy 13–4 in the second round and then 2002 winner Peter Ebdon 13–9 in the quarter-final. In the semi-final on 4 May 2008 he beat Joe Perry 17–15 to book a place against Ronnie OSullivan in the final, Carter scored his first 147 break on 29 April at the 2008 World Championship, one day after Ronnie OSullivan had made one in the same tournament. This made Carter the sixth man to achieve this feat at the Crucible, and it is the first time two 147s have been made in the same event. Carter soon showed signs of carrying this form forward in subsequent events and he won his second non-ranking tournament, the Huangshan Cup in China, with a 5–3 win over the reigning Grand Prix champion Marco Fu. In the 2008/09 season Carter reached the stage on three separate occasions. He progressed to the semi-finals of the 2008/09 seasons first ranking event, as the defending champion at the Welsh Open he progressed to the final but was beaten by John Higgins, the reigning world champion at the time. He finished the season strongly by reaching the semi-finals at the China Open, of the six ranking tournaments that were staged during the 2009/2010 season, Carters campaigns were ended by the eventual champion on four occasions, and on another by the runner-up. Carter finished the season by moving up to a high position of 4th in the world rankings. Carter won the 2010 Shanghai Masters, Carter had to recover from 1–4 down in the quarter-final to defeat Matthew Stevens 5–4, Stevens missing the final black off its spot in the deciding frame. He then won six frames in a row from 0–2 down to beat Mark Selby 6–2, Carters 2011/2012 season got off to a poor start as he exited the first two ranking events of the year, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters, in the first round. At the UK Championships he defeated Robert Milkins, but then lost 6–2 to Mark Allen in the last 16, after the match Carter stated on Twitter, Im going to retire at the end of the season
23.
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
24.
Barry Pinches
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Barry Pinches is an English former professional snooker player, recognisable for his bright and flamboyant waistcoats, which usually feature the yellow and green colours of Norwich City F. C. He is a former top 32 player and ranking-event quarter-finalist and he has compiled over 100 century breaks in his career, becoming the 33rd player to have done so. He won the English Amateur Championship in 1988, enabling him to professional in 1989. He is coached by Stephen Feeney, after a largely unsuccessful start to his career, he hit good form for a while in the 2000s. In his first appearance at the Crucible, in 1991 he lost 3–10 to Terry Griffiths, at one point he was established in the worlds top 32, and provisionally 14 at one point – advancing 82–56–36–21 in the rankings over a strong sequence of seasons up to 2003/2004. However, he dropped out of the top 32 two years later, and then won only one match in 2006/2007, dropping to number #56. He attributed this loss of form to attempting to change his cue action, however, he won an invitational event that featured many top players, the 2007 Paul Hunter Classic that August, beating Neil Robertson and Ken Doherty en route. The 2008/2009 season was successful for him however. In the 2011/2012 season Pinches narrowly missed out on a maximum 147 break at Event 2 of the Players Tour Championship in Gloucester and he would later finish the season ranked world number 64, grabbing the final spot on offer through the world rankings to play in the 2012/2013 season. He fell 23 places in the rankings during the season – the most of anyone on the snooker tour, Pinches won two matches but then lost in the final round in qualifying for the first three ranking events of the season. He made it to the draw at the next event. He had to play in a wildcard round once at the venue in Chengdu, China, and lost 5–6 to Lu Ning. This was the furthest Pinches got in an event this season. He finished the year ranked world number 62, Pinches qualified for the 2013 Indian Open, the fourth ranking event of the 2013/2014 season with a 4–1 victory over Chris Wakelin. He almost pulled off a shock in the first round as he led Ding Junhui 3–2. Pinches also reached the draw of the World Open and China Open. Pinches stated before the match that he would stick to his game with a defensive approach as he has always played the same no matter who the opponent is. He edged out Peter Ebdon 5–4 to qualify for the 2014 Wuxi Classic, Pinches won three games to play in the final qualifying round for the Australian Goldfields Open where he lost 5–3 to Ebdon
25.
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
26.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
27.
Mark King (snooker player)
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Mark King is an English professional snooker player. He has also appeared in two ranking tournament finals - the 1997 Welsh Open, where he lost 2–9 to Stephen Hendry, and the 2004 Irish Masters. King has reached the last 16 of the World Championship seven times, in 1998,1999,2001,2002,2008,2009 and 2013, King turned professional in 1991 and advanced steadily through the rankings, reaching the top 48 by 1996. His 1997 Welsh Open final run lead to a top 32 place in the end of season rankings and he remained in the top 16 the following season without reaching a ranking quarter-final, but dropped out a year later. He made a return in 2000/2001, climbing to a career-high of #11. A poor 2002/2003 season ended with him dropping out of the top 16 again after defeat to Drew Henry 10–5 in the first round of the World Championship. In the post-match interview, King suggested that he had lost patience with the game, King later retracted this statement and began the following season in the qualifiers. After the 2004 World Championship, King became involved in a battle with Quinten Hann after his friend Andy Hicks eliminated Hann in a controversial first-round clash. Hann had been making provocative gestures during the match and after Hicks took victory, upset by Hanns behaviour, King challenged the Australian to a boxing match, for which King was later criticised, as Hanns behaviour had already put the game into disrepute. Nevertheless, the bout went ahead and Hann controversially won the fight on a points decision, in December 2004, King beat Mark Williams, Alan McManus and John Parrott en route to the semi-finals of the UK Championship, losing 9–4 to eventual winner Stephen Maguire. At 8–3, a mobile phone went off in the crowd, prompting King to quip if thats my missus, tell her Ill be home soon. In 2005, King beat Ronnie OSullivan 9–8 at the same event, King would eventually lose 9–6 in the last 16 to Joe Perry, but made a career best 146 break at the 2006 Championships. In 2007, King went out to David Gilbert in the round for the event. In the 2008 World Championship, King beat six-times runner-up Jimmy White to qualify, then shocked the previous years runner-up Mark Selby 10–8, after potting the match ball, King showed his delight by shouting Get in. He lost to Peter Ebdon in the last 16, but his place was secure. A consistent 2008/2009 season saw King retain his top 16 spot, at the 2009 Grand Prix King needed three snookers in the deciding frame against Ricky Walden to claim a 5–4 victory. He managed to get them and won by potting the final black, in the next round he lost to Robert Milkins. At the 2010 China Open King defeated Thai player James Wattana 5–4 in the first round after trailing 2–4 and he then won his second match 5–3 against Chinese player Tian Pengfei to reach his first Quarter final since the 2007 Malta Cup
28.
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
29.
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
30.
Gerard Greene
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Gerard Eamonn Greene is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player. He represented Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast, alongside this, Greene reached a ranking semi-final, at the 2007 Grand Prix, losing to the eventual champion Marco Fu, and five quarter-finals. Representing Northern Ireland with teammate Mark Allen, he reached the final of the 2011 World Cup, where they lost to China. Greene qualified for the World Championship five times without winning a match at the Crucible Theatre, although he drew the defending champion – John Higgins in 1999. He was ranked within the worlds top 64 players from 1997 until he fell off the tour, losing his professional status. Greene turned pro and joined the ranks in 1993/94 at the age of 20. In 1995/96 he got to the stages of three events and was up 38 places to 72nd in the World Rankings. He also reached the last 32 of the LG Cup and he was briefly provisionally in the top 16 but then suffered a mid season slump. Things picked up a later in the campaign and he was assured of a place in the top 32 for the first time at number 26. He returned to the top 32 after 2006/2007, the highlight being a run to the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Trophy and he reached his first ranking semi-final at the 2007 Grand Prix. Greene came through Group B which included Ronnie OSullivan, Steve Davis, Dominic Dale and qualifiers Tom Ford and he beat Davis and Dale 4–0, Ford 4–3 and Joyce 4–2, his only defeat coming at the hands of Ronnie OSullivan, 4–2. He defeated qualifier Ricky Walden 5–0 in the last 16 with breaks of 101 and 91, in his quarter-final he faced Joe Perry, who he defeated 5–3 with breaks of 68,57,123 and rounding of the match with a 53. Eventual champion Marco Fu edged him out 6–5 in the semi-final, for a while before this tournament, he had no snooker club to practice in. Showing his best form for years, he reached the Quarter-final of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy. Then he beat former World Champions Mark Williams and Ken Doherty on the way and his run ended in the hands of Mark Allen, who he lost to 5–3. He lost form in 2008 however, failing to qualify for the World Championship after a 2–10 defeat to journeyman Mark Davis, greenes 2008/2009 season was solid but unspectacular. He won his match in six of the seasons eight tournaments. Crucially, he qualified for the World Championship by defeating Liu Song and he was beaten 10–5 by Ali Carter in the first round
31.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
32.
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
33.
Michael Holt (snooker player)
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Michael Holt is a professional snooker player from Nottingham, England. He has won two minor-ranking tournaments and has reached one final of an event, the Riga Open, as well as five further quarter-finals. He lost in the qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2001 and 2002. Holt almost qualified for the 2004 event – he was 9–5 ahead in his qualifying match against Anthony Hamilton. In the 2005 World Snooker Championship, he beat his friend Paul Hunter in the first round, in the second round he faced Steve Davis, losing 10–13 after having led 8–2. For the 2005 tournament he used eBay to auction the sponsorship space on his waistcoat to Cabaret and he qualified for the 2006 World Championship, and lost in the first round to eventual runner-up Peter Ebdon 10–8, earning Ebdons applause as a result of his performance. He won the non-ranking German Open in 2006, and reached the final in 2005 and his 5–3 victory over Ronnie OSullivan in the 2007 Malta Cup was his first in five attempts against OSullivan. He then lost to Mark King in the last 16 there and he reached the last 16 of the 2008 Grand Prix, defeating Jimmy White and Michael Judge to qualify and scored a 5–1 defeat of Mark Allen at the venue, before losing 2–5 to Ding Junhui. He then beat Jamie Cope to reach the last sixteen and commented that he was in the best form of his life and he then lost 4–5 to Robert Milkins in the last 16, having led 3–0. He defeated Mark Davis and Dominic Dale to reach the 2009 World Championship and he summarised the change in his game by commenting This year, people have had to beat me. I havent given matches away Holt qualified for three of the six ranking tournaments in the 2009/2010 season, but lost in the first round in each, the 2010/2011 season saw the introduction of Players Tour Championship events. At the Prague Classic, Holt won six matches to reach the first final of the career which included victories over Stephen Maguire, Mark Selby and he faced John Higgins who he had failed to beat in 13 previous meetings, but produced a superb performance to win 4–2. Holt dedicated the title to his father who had suffered a two months previously. The result ensured he would qualify for the PTC Finals as he finished 13th on the Order of Merit and he saw off Marco Fu 4–1, in the quarter-finals he lost 4–2 against Martin Gould. Despite his late surge in form he ended it ranked world number 45. Holt reached the round of ranking events three times during the 2011/2012 season, but lost on each occasion. He saved his best performances for the minor-ranking PTC events for the season in a row most notably at the 10th event where he won the title by beating Dominic Dale 4–2 in the final. He was also a losing quarter-finalist in three events to finish fourth on the Order of Merit and qualify for the Finals again where he was beaten 4–1 by Stephen Lee
34.
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
35.
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
36.
Dominic Dale
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Dominic Dale is a Welsh professional snooker player and occasional snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC. He is often referred to by commentators as the greatest player never to have been in the top 16, Dale was born in Coventry, England. He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, which allowed him to compete at the World Amateur Championship in Bangkok, Dale reached the final, but lost 9–11 against Noppadon Noppachorn. Dale turned professional for the 1992/1993 season and he has won two ranking tournaments in his career, the first of which – the Grand Prix in 1997 – he won while ranked number 54 in the world, beating then world number 2 John Higgins 9–6 in the final. It took him a decade to repeat the achievement at the 2007 Shanghai Masters, on his way to the Shanghai final he beat Rory McLeod, Ken Doherty, Adrian Gunnell, Dave Harold and Mark Selby. Both of his victories were in the season-opening tournaments, he also reached the semi-finals of the season-opening events in 2002 and 2006. He also beat Peter Ebdon at the 2008 Malta Cup, despite a bout of stomach cramps, Dale is the only player to have won multiple ranking tournaments without ever reaching the top 16, but he was 14th on the one-year list for both 1997/1998 and 1999/2000. His best World Championship performance was in 2000, when he reached the quarter-finals with a 10–6 victory over Peter Ebdon, Dale won the third professional tournament of his career when he won Event 6 of the Players Tour Championship 2010/2011, beating Martin Gould 4–3 in the final. This win, along with consistent performances, were enough to see him back into the top 32 players. He also qualified for the World Championship for the first time since 2004, Dale had a good start to his 2011/2012 season as he reached the quarter-finals of the first event, the Australian Goldfields Open. Dale was originally due to meet Ronnie OSullivan in the first round and he then reached the final stages of the UK Championship for the first time since 2005 by beating Nigel Bond in the final qualifying round and was drawn against Judd Trump in the last 32. Dale led 4–2 before Trump had a slice of fortune in the seventh frame by fluking a pink. Dale would eventually lose the match 4–6 and he also reached the 2012 PTC Finals courtesy of finishing twentieth in the Order of Merit. His qualification was largely due to making the final of Event 10, in the Finals he lost 2–4 to Xiao Guodong in the first round. Dale qualified for the World Championship with a 10–3 victory over Ben Woollaston to set up another first round meeting with Judd Trump and he led the match 7–6 against an opponent who later revealed to be suffering from food poisoning, before conceding four successive frames to lose 7–10. Dale finished the season ranked world number 23, meaning he had climbed 8 places during the year, Dale qualified for nine of the eleven ranking events during the 2012/2013 season, but lost in the first round in eight of them. The exception was at the International Championship where he beat Graeme Dott 6–3, dales best run in the PTCs came at Event Three by reaching the semi-finals in a run that included a 4–2 over Mark Selby, but he lost to world number 65 Rod Lawler 0–4. Dale finished 28th on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals, Dale reached the opening round of the World Championship by dispatching Alfie Burden 10–5 and played Judd Trump at this stage for the second successive year where he was defeated 10–5
37.
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
38.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
39.
Dave Harold
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David Dave Harold is an English former professional snooker player from Stoke-on-Trent. He was known by the nicknames of the Hard Man and the Stoke Potter and he was also the first player on the television circuit to sport a plaster on his chin as a guide for his cue, which is a practice now adopted by Graeme Dott. As an amateur he played as David Harold, but since turning professional in 1991 he was registered as Dave Harold and he has three children, and is separated from his wife. He won one ranking title, reached two finals and several semi-finals, and spent four seasons ranked among the top 16. Harold was renowned for both his strong defensive play and his unusual cue-action, with which he is able to unleash a great deal of power on a shot without using backswing on the cue. Despite safety play ultimately being considered his strong point, he compiled 143 century breaks, Steve Davis has commented that he is not the most naturally gifted player, but makes up for this with strong tactical play. For his technique and grinding play he has compared to Cliff Thorburn. Soon after turning professional, Harold won the 1993 Asian Open, ranked 93rd in the world at the time, he became the lowest-ranked player ever to win a ranking tournament. He never repeated this achievement, although he reached his second ranking final in the 1994 Grand Prix,11 in the world rankings in the 1996/97 season. In the 1996 Welsh Open, he lost in the semi-finals, 1–6 and he contended in his first and only World Championship quarter-final in the 1996 event, where he lost 7–13 to Nigel Bond. He also lost 5–6 to Bond in his 1996 British Open semi-final less than two weeks earlier, in the 1998 Grand Prix, he knocked out Stephen Hendry and John Higgins en route to the semi-finals, but lost narrowly to eventual champion Stephen Lee. 1998 also saw him reach his first semi-final in the UK Championship, in the 1999 Grand Prix Harold led Mark Williams 5–3 in the semi-finals but lost 5–6. Following a poor season in 2001–2002, Harold dropped out of the Top 16, a broken wrist sustained on New Years Eve 2003 saw him drop further down the rankings, out of the top 32, although he had a better 2005/2006 season. Another consistent season in 2006/2007 helped Harold back up to No.30 in the rankings for 2007/2008. 2007/2008 started with an appearance in the Shanghai Masters, losing to eventual winner Dominic Dale. However, he lost 2–9 in the round to Mark Selby. He qualified for the stages of the World Championship with a 10–4 win over Mike Dunn. During a preliminary match against local wildcard Jin Long in the 2008 China Open
40.
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
41.
Mark Selby
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Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. He is the reigning World Snooker and UK champion, having won titles for a second time in 2016, and is the current world number one. Selby joined the professional snooker tour in 1999 at the age of 16. In 2007, he was runner-up to John Higgins at the World Snooker Championship and his other ranking titles include the Welsh Open in 2008, the Shanghai Masters in 2011, the German Masters in 2015, the China Open in 2015 and the International Championship in 2016. Known as a patient, tough competitor with strong safety play and his nickname, The Jester from Leicester, was given to him by snooker compere Richard Beare after Willie Thorne came up with it during commentary. Selby is also a pool player and he is the 2006 WEPF eight-ball pool world champion and the 2015 Chinese Pool World Championship finalist. Selby was born in Leicester, England, malcolm Thorne, the brother of Leicester-born snooker player Willie Thorne, spotted Selbys snooker ability and provided Selby practice so he could practise every day after school. Selbys father died of cancer when Mark was 16, two months before he joined the professional tour. Mark showed potential as a teenager, but did not consistently shine until his twenties and he began his career on the UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached his first ranking final aged 19, the Regal Scottish in 2003, where he finished runner-up to David Gray, losing 9–7 in the final. Before that, he had already reached the semi-finals of the 2002 China Open. Selby reached the qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2002 and 2003 losing both times. In the 2007 World Championships, Selby beat Stephen Lee 10–7 in the first round and he then defeated former World Champion Peter Ebdon 13–8, with five centuries to reach the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final, he beat Ali Carter 13–12, from 11–8 up and 11–12 down and he went on to reach the final by beating Shaun Murphy 17–16 from 14–16 down, in another deciding frame which he won thanks to a 64 break. Thus he entered the session only 10–12 down and closed to within one frame at 13–14. It was noted by eventual world champion John Higgins, amongst others, in his victory speech and these performances in the 2006/07 season earned Selby a place in the top 16 for the very first time for the 2007/08 season, where he was ranked 11th. After a moderate start to the season, Selby had a run in the second highest ranking tournament. He led eventual winner Ronnie OSullivan 7–5, fell 7–8 behind, in the deciding frame, however, OSullivan made a 147 break to win 9–8
42.
Stuart Bingham
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Stuart Bingham is an English professional snooker player and a former World Snooker Champion. As an amateur, he won the 1996 IBSF World Snooker Championship and he first entered the top 32 in the world rankings for the 2006/2007 season, and first reached the top 16 during the 2011/2012 season. Bingham won the first ranking title of his career at the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open and he followed this by winning the World Championship in 2015, which British media said completed an astonishing transition from journeyman to king of the Crucible. With that, he joined Ken Doherty as the players to have won world titles at both amateur and professional levels. He claimed a ranking title by winning the 2017 Welsh Open. Bingham has also been runner-up in three ranking events, the 2012 Wuxi Classic, the 2013 Welsh Open, and the 2016 World Grand Prix. He has also won the non-ranking 2012 Premier League Snooker and the 2015 Championship League, a prolific break-builder, he has compiled more than 300 century breaks during his career, including three maximum breaks. He also qualified for the tournament in 2002 by beating Nigel Bond, Bingham played Ken Doherty in the first round and almost made the fifth 147 break at the Crucible, but missed the final pink in an attempt that would have been worth £167,000. He went on to lose the match 8–10, in the 2004/2005 season his best runs were two last-sixteen runs in ranking events, including losing in a final frame decider to Ding Junhui in the China Open. In 2005/2006, he had one of his most consistent seasons and he reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix tournament, beating then world champion Shaun Murphy along the way. He got to the stage of the UK Championship, losing in a final frame decider to Joe Perry. He also won the tournament for the Masters, scoring a 147 break along the way. He then beat Steve Davis in the round, before losing to Peter Ebdon 4–6. He made a start to the 2007/08 season, reaching the quarter finals of the Shanghai Masters. After finishing 4th in his group in the Grand Prix he then lost his first match in the Northern Ireland Trophy, in the Maplin UK Championship he managed to reach the last 16, losing to Shaun Murphy 9–3, after victories over Fergal OBrien and Steve Davis again. He also reached the stage of the Welsh Open, beating Stephen Maguire 5–4, after being 3–0 down, in the last 32. 2008/2009 was a disappointment for Bingham, who lost his first match in four of the eight events. He was drawn against number 1 Ronnie OSullivan in the first round of the 2009 World Championship, Bingham reached the Quarter final stages of the 2010 UK Championship having defeated OSullivan 9–6 and then Marco Fu 9–2 in previous rounds before losing 9–7 to Northern Irelands Mark Allen
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England
Wales
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