1.
Valletta
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Valletta is the capital city of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. The historical city has a population of 6,444, while the area around it has a population of 393,938. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe and the second southernmost capital of the European Union after Nicosia, Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John also known as Knights Hospitaller. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980, the official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta—The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The building of a city on the Sciberras Peninsula, originally called Xaghriet Mewwija, had proposed by the Order of Saint John as early as 1524. Back then, the building on the peninsula was a small watchtower dedicated to Erasmus of Formia. In 1552, the watchtower was demolished and the larger Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place, in the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Orders position in Malta, the city took his name and was called La Valletta. The Grand Master asked the European kings and princes for help, pope Pius V sent his military architect, Francesco Laparelli, to design the new city, while Philip II of Spain sent substantial monetary aid. The foundation stone of the city was laid by Grand Master de Valette on 28 March 1566 and he placed the first stone in what later became Our Lady of Victories Church. De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74, originally interred in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, his remains now rest in St. Johns Co-Cathedral among the tombs of other Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta. Francesco Laparelli was the principal designer and his plan departed from medieval Maltese architecture. He designed the new city on a grid plan. The streets were designed to be wide and straight, beginning centrally from the City Gate and ending at Fort Saint Elmo overlooking the Mediterranean and his assistant was the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, later oversaw the construction of the city himself after Laparellis death in 1570. The Ufficio delle Case regulated the building of the city as a planning authority, seven Auberges were built for the Orders Langues, and these were complete by the 1580s. An eighth Auberge, Auberge de Bavière, was added in the 18th century. During António Manoel de Vilhenas reign, a town began to form between the walls of Valletta and the Floriana Lines, and this evolved from a suburb of Valletta to Floriana, a town in its own right. In 1749, Muslim slaves plotted to kill Grandmaster Pinto and take over Valletta, in 1798, the Order left the islands and the French occupation of Malta began
2.
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
3.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
4.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
5.
Glossary of cue sports terms
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There are also hybrid pocket/carom games such as English billiards. The terms American or US as applied here refer generally to North American usage, similarly, British terms predominate in the world of snooker, English billiards and blackball, regardless of the players nationalities. The term blackball is used in this glossary to refer to both blackball and eight-ball pool as played in the Commonwealth, as a shorthand, 1-cushion See the Straight rail billiards main article for the game sometimes called one-cushion. 1-pocket See the One-pocket main article for the game, 3-ball See the Three-ball main article for the game. 3-cushion See the Three-cushion billiards main article for the game, 4-ball See the Yotsudama main article for the modern Asian game often called four-ball. See the American four-ball billiards main article for the nineteenth-century game, 5-pins See the Five-pin billiards main article for the formerly Italian, now internationally standardized game, or Danish pin billiards for the five-pin traditional game of Denmark. 6-ball See the Nine-ball#Six-ball sub-article for the game, 8-ball See the Eight-ball main article for the game. See the 8 ball entry, under the E section below, See 8 ball for derivative uses. 9-ball See the Nine-ball main article for the game, See the 9 ball entry, under the N section below, for the ball. 9-pins See the Goriziana main article for the game sometimes called nine-pins, 10-ball See the Ten-ball main article for the game. Above Used in snooker in reference to the position of the cue ball and it is above the object ball if it is off-straight on the baulk cushion side of the imaginary line for a straight pot. It is also common to use the term high instead, gambling or the potential for gambling. Lively results on a ball, usually the cue ball, from the application of spin, added Used with an amount to signify money added to a tournament prize fund in addition to the amount accumulated from entry fees. A match format in which a player has to establish a lead of a number of frames in order to win. Aiming line An imaginary line drawn from the path an object ball is to be sent. Anchor To freeze a ball to a cushion, such a ball may be said to be anchored and this term is largely obsolete balkline billiards jargon. Anchor nurse A type of shot used in carom billiards games. It developed to curtail the effectiveness of the nurse, which in turn had been invented to thwart the effectiveness of Parkers box in stopping long
6.
Century break
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In snooker, a century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table without missing a shot, and requires potting of at least 25 consecutive balls. Over 20,000 century breaks have been recorded by snooker players throughout professional tournaments, Ronnie OSullivan holds the record for the most career centuries, with over 800 century breaks. A century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table, the player does this by potting red balls and coloured balls alternately, and when no reds are left, potting the coloured balls in order of their increasing value. Points for a shot by the opponent do not count in a players break. If for example only the colour would be used instead of the black ball. This means that only a century break is possible in a frame of snooker under a limited number of combinations. To score one, there must be at least ten reds on the table when the comes to play since if there are only nine reds left. An exception exists if the opponent fouls and leaves the incoming player snookered on all the remaining reds, Breaks above 147 are possible when an opponent fouls and leaves a free ball with all fifteen reds still remaining on the table. This has happened once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 at the qualifying stage of the 2004 UK Championship. A century of centuries refers to a total of 100 breaks of at least 100 points each, only 15 players had reached this milestone in professional snooker tournaments by December 2001. Only Neil Robertson has achieved the Holy Grail of one hundred 100s in a single season, the following players are reported to have passed 100 breaks and at least the given threshold above this. Career Joe Davis compiled the first televised century break in 1962, the record for most century breaks scored in official tournament play is held by Ronnie OSullivan with over 850. The record was held by Stephen Hendry who compiled 775 centuries over the course of his career. The first player to record 1000 centuries in public performance was Horace Lindrum, stacey Hillyard became the first female to record a competitive century in January 1985. The quickest recorded century break in tournament play was by Tony Drago at 1996 UK Championship, the youngest player to record a century break is Michael White at the age of nine in March 2001. Season The first player to reach 50 centuries in a season was Hendry, judd Trump took the record with 61 centuries in the 2012/2013 season and the record was broken for the fourth successive season in 2013/2014 when Neil Robertson overtook Trumps tally. In total, Robertson compiled 103 century breaks throughout the season, event The most centuries made by a player in a single match during a professional tournament is seven and the record is shared by Stephen Hendry and Ding Junhui. Hendry set the record during the final of the 1994 UK Championship, during this match, Hendry compiled six centuries in a span of eight frames
7.
Scottish Open (snooker)
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The Scottish Open is a ranking professional snooker tournament held in Scotland. The tournament had many changes in its history, as the tournament was formerly called International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy. Apart from a hiatus in the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 seasons, the tournament remained a ranking event until 2003/2004, in the 2012/2013 season the tournament was added back to the calendar as part of the Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series. The last champion was Marco Fu, the tournament began in 1981 as the International Open at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, and became the following year the second ranking event after the World Championship. The event moved to the Eldon Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, until 1984 the event was sponsored by Jameson Whiskey. In 1985 the event moved to the Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent and was renamed to the Goya Matchroom Trophy due to sponsorship from Matchroom, the International Open name returned the following year and the sponsorship was overtaken by BCE and Fidelity Unit Trusts. After 1989 the event went on a two-year hiatus, the event returned in the 1992/1993 season with the sponsorship of Sky Sports. The event was moved to the half of the season and was played at the Plymouth Pavilions. The event was moved again in 1994, this time to the Bournemouth International Centre, after an unsponsored year Sweater Shop took over for 1995 and 1996. In 1997 the event was moved to the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre, in 1998 the event was renamed to Scottish Open, and it was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco through their Regal brand, who also sponsored the Scottish Masters and Welsh Open. In 2003 the event was moved to Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, for the first time in twelve years no top 16 player reached the final. The event than was renamed to the Players Championship for 2004, the event was sponsored by Daily Record and held at the SECC in Glasgow. After the event Sky decided not to renew their contract, the event was added back to the calendar in the 2012/2013 season as minor-ranking tournament and was known as the Scottish Open. It was held at Ravenscraig as the event of the European Tour. In 2015 Barry Hearn announced that the tournament will return in the 2016/17 season, the event will be held in Glasgow and will be part of the Home Series events, which will feature tournaments in the other home nations and have a one million pound bonus. Steve Davis was the tournaments most prolific winner, with a record 6 wins from 8 finals and this included a 9–0 whitewash of Dennis Taylor in the 1981 final. There were three breaks in the history of the tournament, two at the 2000 event. Stephen Maguire at the first qualifying round against Phaitoon Phonbun and Ronnie OSullivan in the last 32 against Quinten Hann, in 2012 Kurt Maflin achieved a 147 in the last 32 against Stuart Carrington
8.
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
9.
Pool (cue sports)
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An obsolete term for pool is six-pocket. There are hundreds of pool games, some of the more well known include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, and bank pool. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards, such as American four-ball billiards, cowboy pool, and bottle pool. The OxfordDictionaries. com definition no longer provides the obsolete meaning found in the print edition. With one black ball and a cue ball on a table with pockets. Pool is played on a six pocket table, modern pool tables generally range in size from 3.5 feet by 7 feet, to 4.5 feet by 9 feet. The balls range from 2.25 inches in diameter to 2.375 inches in diameter, under the WPA/BCA equipment specifications, the weight may be from 5.5 to 6 oz. with a diameter of 2.25 in. Modern cue sticks are generally 58.5 inches long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had a length of 57.5 inches. By comparison, carom billiards cues are shorter with larger tips. In the United States, the most commonly played game is eight-ball, in the United Kingdom the game is commonly played in pubs, and it is competitively played in leagues on both sides of the Atlantic. The most prestigious tournaments including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International Pool Tour, Rules vary widely from place to place. Pool halls in North America are increasingly settling upon the World Pool-Billiard Association International Standardized Rules, but tavern eight-ball, typically played on smaller, coin-operated tables and in a winner keeps the table manner, can differ significantly even between two venues in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually, Nine-ball uses only the 1 through 9 balls and cue ball. It is a game, The player at the table must make legal contact with the lowest numbered ball on the table or a foul is called. The game is won by pocketing the nine ball. Nine-ball is the predominant professional game, though as of 2006–2008 there have been suggestions that this may change. There are many local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with nine-ball, the World Pool-Billiard Association and its American affiliate, the Billiard Congress of America, publish the World Standardized Rules. The European professional circuit has instituted rules changes to make it difficult to achieve a legal break shot
10.
World Snooker Championship
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The World Snooker Championship is the leading snooker tournament both in terms of prestige and prize money. The first championship was held in 1927 and was won by Joe Davis, Davis won the first 15 championships before retiring from the event, undefeated, after his 1946 success. In the 1950s snooker went into a period of decline and the championship was not held after 1952, in 1964 the championship was revived on a challenge basis and in 1969 the championship became a knock-out event again. Since 1977 it has played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The tournament is played over 17 days and ends on the first Monday in May. In the modern era, the best record is that of Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon both won six times while Ronnie OSullivan has won five titles. The current champion is Mark Selby, who has won the tournament twice, the first championship was held in 1927 and was called the Professional Snooker Championship. It was the first important professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916, ten professionals entered including most of the leading billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over 23 frames, the first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurstons Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker was played as an extra to the main event. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session, Inman won 8–5, the match finishing on the Monday afternoon, a week after it started. One other match was played in connection with a billiards contest, with minimal prize money, players mainly made money from their share of the gate receipts. Because of this it was common for dead frames to be played after the result of the match had been decided, the final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkins Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames and led throughout, taking a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, the highest break of the tournament was 60, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match. Davis made a 57 break of the final, the 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other 6 entries playing off for the right to challenge Joe Davis in the final. Davis met Fred Lawrence in the final, winning 16–13, the challenge system was dropped in 1929. Davis met Tom Dennis in the final, played in Denniss home town of Nottingham, Davis made a new record break of 61 on the way to a 17–12 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final, played for the first time at Thurstons Hall in London, the final was extended to 49 frames played over 6 days
11.
Francisco Bustamante
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Bustamante is the youngest of eight siblings. People in his vicinity nicknamed him Django because of his scrappy nature, the character was portrayed by an Italian actor. Their father made a living through building toilets and planting rice and his life in pool began when he worked in his sisters pool hall, racking and spotting balls on the tables. When the patrons leave and the place closes for the night and he never completed high school and has been concentrating in pocket billiards from 10 years of age. He quoted, Magaling ako noon pa at 1975 pa halos hindi nanatatalo sa aming lugar kaya naglibot ako, after some success in the Philippines, Bustamante moved to Germany where stayed for more than a decade, competing in a number of tournaments in Europe. With his win in Tulsa, Bustamante locked up the 1998 Camel Pro Billiards Series year-long point funds top spot and he then finished the season in record breaking style, winning the Columbus 10-Ball Open and becoming the first player to win three Camel titles in one season. His Columbus 10-Ball title also completed the first ever Camel trifecta, known for his style at the table and behind-the-back shots, Bustamante is one of the best Filipino players of the game along with fellow Kapampangan Efren Reyes, Marlon Manalo and Ronato Alcano. He also holds the record for having the most powerful break shot. In 1999, Bustamante finished 3rd place in the WPA World Nine-ball Championship after losing to Efren Reyes who later won it, months later, he won the International Challenge of Champions. He won that tournament again three years later, the next year, Bustamante won the Motolite 9-ball Tournament, an event held in the Philippines, at the expense of Antonio Lining. The victory earned him $30K which was the largest first prize offered in a Philippine-held tournament at that time, the year 2002 was probably the coldest year for Bustamante, especially considering his experience at the World Pool Championships. While the tournament was going on, Bustamante was most shocked when he received a phone call from his wife informing him that his daughter. Devastated by this, Bustamante strongly considered forfeiting his contention at the tournament to return to the Philippines, on his way to the final, Bustamante bested Antonio Lining in the last 16, Efren Reyes in the quarter finals and Ching Shun Yang in semis. In the final, he met Earl Strickland, the 2-time winner of the tournament, Bustamante was leading most of the time and could have won the title. At one point, he went for a shot but missed. Strickland returned to the table and won three racks in a row to win the match 17-15 and his loss in the finals of the World Championship was most definitely a big blow to him because his lack of focus on the match cost him the tournament. Later on, however, Bustamante regained momentum and began winning more tournaments, Bustamante won the Peninsula Nine-ball Open, Gabriels Las Vegas International Nine-ball tournament, the IBC Tokyo Nine-ball International and the All Japan Nine-ball Championship. He even won the Sudden Death Seven-ball tournament and dedicated the victory to his daughter, with such a string of victories, he became the AZBilliards 2002 Player of the Year
12.
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
13.
Snooker world ranking tournaments
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This is a list of professional and alternative format snooker tournaments. A non-ranking tournament may take the form of an event where player participation is conditional on criteria set by the organiser or sponsor or by personal invite. Most tournaments take the form of an event, but there are several team formats that have appeared on the calendar over the years. In recent seasons alternative forms of snooker have proliferated on the calendar and this is a list of ranking professional snooker tournaments. The professional snooker tournaments listed below are non-ranking and invitational events, a list of tournaments that use an alternative set of rules to the official rules of the game. This is a list of ranking professional snooker tournaments that no longer part of the snooker calendar. The professional snooker tournaments listed below were non-ranking and invitational events
14.
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
15.
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
16.
Issara Kachaiwong
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Issara Kachaiwong, is a former Thai professional snooker player. Kachaiwong first came to attention in 2002 when he became the Thai national under-20 champion. His best performance in the season came at the 2006 Grand Prix in October in Aberdeen. During that tournament he impressed, winning 4 of his five matches during the group stages and his only loss came against John Higgins. However he failed to make the top two as both Higgins and Alan McManus, who Kachaiwong had beaten, had better frame differences and he was the only player who won four times in the group stages who did not make it through to the knockout stages. The rest of Kachaiwongs results was not good enough to him on tour. Despite a last 64 run at the season-ending World Championship, he was again relegated, at the 2010 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Kachaiwong beat Mohammad Sajjad from Pakistan 7–3 in the final to become the champion and regained his tour card for the 2010/2011 season. Once again he struggled for results, his best performance coming at the China Open where he reached the qualifying round. He finished the season 87th in the rankings and failed to retain his place on the tour. General Cup –2004 ACBS Asian Championship –2006,2010 Pro Snooker Blog Profile
17.
Peter Lines
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Peter Lines is a former English professional snooker player. He has twice reached the quarter-final of a tournament, in the 1999 China International, and the 2009 UK Championship. He is the father of professional snooker player Oliver Lines. Lines turned professional in 1991, and in his debut season managed to reach the last 32 stage twice, at the 1992 Strachan Open and the 1992 Asian Open. Wins were hard to come by for him during the few seasons, although he managed to qualify for the 1995 International Open, beating the likes of Fergal OBrien. Lines briefly fell off tour in 1997 but returned immediately via Qualifying School, as a result, he finished the season ranked 53, and rose to 42 after the next season despite having failed to reach another last 32. Following this result, however, he started to struggle for form and to slip down the rankings and he briefly regained his place in 2006 but was again relegated after another poor season. He carried his form into the 2008/09 season as he performed consistently to finish in the top 64. Better was to come during the season, as Lines reached the last 64 of the Shanghai Masters. 2010/11 season saw Lines recording a number of results in the newly introduced minor-ranking PTC events. Lines qualified for the 2011 UK Championship by defeating Ken Doherty 6–5 in round 4 of qualifying and he played Martin Gould in the last 32 and was beaten 6–2. Lines qualified for the 2013 German Masters by defeating John Higgins 5–3 in round 4 of qualifying and he played Ken Doherty in the last 32 and won 5–3, before losing 3–5 to Marco Fu in the last 16. In June 2014 he won the Pink Ribbon pro–am event defeating Lee Walker 4–1 in the final, in March 2017 he won the World Seniors Championship defeating John Parrott 4–0 in the final. He is married to Sarah and has two children, Penny and Oliver, both he and Oliver practise at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. Profile on World Snooker Profile on Pro Snooker Blog
18.
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
19.
Ryan Day
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Ryan Day is a Welsh professional snooker player. As a prolific break-builder, he has compiled more than 250 century breaks during his career, Day was born in Pontycymer, Bridgend, and began his professional career by playing UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. He is named Young Player of Distinction of the season 2000/2001 by the World Professional Billiards and he won the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. With this win, he qualified for the 2002 Masters, where he defeated Dave Harold and he also won the WPBSA Challenge Tour in the 2001/2002 season and was named WPBSA Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Due to problems with his liver in 2003, his results suffered badly, Higgins went on to win the frame and the next two for the match. As some consolation, Higgins commented that Day was going to be a top player for years to come. Day reached the quarter-finals of his tournament, the 2005 Welsh Open defeating Allister Carter. He finished this season ranked 33, but as Quinten Hann did not participate in any events, Day was always among the top 32 seeds, meaning one less qualifying match than he would otherwise have faced. Back at the Crucible in 2006, he beat Joe Perry 10–3 in the first round and he narrowly missed reaching the top 16 of the rankings as a result. The 2006/2007 season was the most successful of his career to date, Day reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and was runner up in the 2007 Malta Cup, losing 4–9 to Shaun Murphy. That years performance saw him ranked 16 in the world for the 2007/2008 season, as a member of the Top 16, he automatically qualified for tournaments. His consistent performances took him up to 8th place in the rankings, Day reached the final of the 2008 Grand Prix where he lost to John Higgins, defeating Ricky Walden, Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Ali Carter. The year ended on a note when he lost in the first round at the UK Championship to Matthew Stevens. He again reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2009, before losing 11–13 to Mark Allen, however, he continued to move up the rankings, climbing 2 places to number 6, the highest ranked player not to have won a ranking event. A disappointing 2009/2010 season in which he reached only one quarter-final and this continued into the next season where he made a number of early exits which meant that at the first revision under the new ranking system he dropped out the top 16, down to number 20. Day qualified for five of the eight ranking tournaments during the 2011/2012 season and his best performance came at the end of the season in the biggest event on the tournament calendar, the World Championship. He came back from 3–7 down in his match against Gerard Greene to win 10–8, to set up a first round match with Chinas number 1. Day produced another comeback, this time from trailing 6–9 to win the last 4 frames, there he beat fellow qualifier Cao Yupeng 13–7 and held a 5–2 lead in the early stages of his quarter-final match against compatriot Matthew Stevens
20.
Lee Page
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Lee Page is a former professional snooker player from Kidderminster. He began his career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004. Page first entered Main Tour for the 2006/07 season, but was unable to retain his place for the seasons tour. He qualified for the 2009/10 season, however he was relegated from the circuit at the end of the season and he returned to the tour in 2013 after winning a two-year card in Q School for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. Player profile on World Snooker Player profile on Pro Snooker Blog Player profile on Global Snooker
21.
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
22.
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
23.
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
24.
Players Tour Championship
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The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification was based on performance in the other PTC events, each regular event lasted for at least three days, with qualifying days for amateurs should the event be oversubscribed. Each event costs £100 to enter, and Main Tour players can gain ranking points in the events, the inaugural series ran from late June, with six events at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, one in Gloucester and another five in mainland Europe. The finals took place in March featuring the best 24 players who had won the most money, the prize money at each event was £50,000 or €50,000 at the regular events, with a total of £200,000 available in the Finals. The first event was held in the World Snooker Academy from 25 to 27 June 2010, in the first season the six events at the Academy were sponsored by Star Xing Pai. The prize money for the Finals was increased to £250,000 in 2011/2012, originally the events played outside Sheffield were called Euro Players Tour Championship, but this distinction was abandoned for the second season. In the 2012/2013 season the Players Tour Championship was expanded, the PTCs would no longer take place at the World Snooker Academy and instead were played at the South West Snooker Academy. In addition there was a decrease of PTCs being played in England, reduced to four events, from this season the European events formed the European Tour, their prize money was increased to €70,000, and they were sponsored by Betfair. The seedings of the final were based on the combined list of both Order of Merits, the prize money of the Finals was also increased to £300,000, excluding the £1,000 prize money for Ding Junhuis maximum break. In the 2013/2014 season the number of minor-ranking PTC events was reduced to twelve, the number of events played in England was further decreased to two, and the number of Asian events was raised to four. From this season the events held in Asia formed the Asian Tour, the prize money of the continental European Tour events was increased to €125,000. The calculation method of the European Tour Order of Merit was also changed this season, the previously used €1=£1 system was changed to accommodate the increasing prize money of the continental European events. World Snooker decided to use the €1. 2=£1 conversion rate, in the 2014/2015 season the number of minor-ranking PTC events was further reduced to only nine events. There are no events played in England, and the number of Asian events was reduced to three after the event, originally planned to be held in August, had to be cancelled. The prize money of the Grand Final was increased to £350,000, the PTC has been both criticised and supported by players. The PTC was criticised by players for its comparatively low prize fund. The events offered a top prize of just £10,000 while the first professional round offered no money at all. OSullivan likened the experience of competing on the PTC to being raped, stephen Maguire echoed OSullivans sentiments, commenting that players were left out of pocket unless they did really well, and that he felt like a prostitute being forced to play in the events
25.
2012 World Snooker Championship
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The 2012 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 21 April to 7 May 2012 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 36th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, Ronnie OSullivan won his fourth world title by defeating Ali Carter 18–11 in the final. John Higgins, the champion, lost 4–13 to Stephen Hendry in the second round. Aged 36, and just 55 days older than Dennis Taylor when winning the title in 1985, on the opening day of the televised stage Hendry made the 88th official maximum break, his third at the Crucible and the 11th of his career. He announced his retirement from professional snooker following his loss to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals, the tournament was sponsored by online casino Betfred. com. Debutants at the Crucible were Jamie Jones, Cao Yupeng, and it was also the first time that Cao and Brecel qualified for the televised stage of a ranking event. Cao and Jones advanced to the round by defeating Mark Allen 10–6 and Shaun Murphy 10–8 respectively. Brecel became the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible and he was also the first Belgian to play at the Crucible. Five Asian players competed in the first round, which is a Crucible record, four were from China and one from Hong Kong. Mark Williams stated on Twitter before the championship, that he hated the Crucible, Williams was subsequently booed as he was announced to the crowd before his opening match. For this comment he was fined a total of £4,000. Stephen Hendry made the 11th maximum break at the Crucible during his first round match with Stuart Bingham and this was the 88th official maximum break. With this he equalled two records of OSullivan, the most official maximum breaks in professional snooker with eleven, zhu Ying became the first Chinese person to referee a match at the Crucible by officiating the match between Hendry and Bingham. Neil Robertson became the player to make three consecutive century breaks at the World Championship, after OSullivan, John Higgins and Mark Selby. Mark Allen, following his defeat by Cao Yupeng, accused his opponent of cheating. Allen claimed that Cao had not admitted to a shot at 5–4. However, he conceded that the Chinese player had outplayed him during the match. World Snooker decided to start action against Allen, who later admitted having gone too far
26.
Luca Brecel
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Luca Brecel is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and is the youngest player to play at the Crucible after qualifying for the 2012 World Championship aged 17 and his first ranking event final came at the 2016 German Masters which he lost to Martin Gould. In April 2009, he became the youngest European under-19 champion at 14 years of age, in August 2009, he beat Joe Perry, the then world number 12, at the Paul Hunter Classic. On 8 January 2010, Brecel defeated former world champion Stephen Hendry 4–1 at a game in Brugge. Luca Brecel became the Belgian senior snooker champion on 24 May 2010 and he also had the highest break of the tournament with a 136. Brecel was defeated by OSullivan in the first round, on 19 December 2010, Brecel was named the Young Belgian Sportsman of the year. Brecel received a card for the Main Tour of the professional 2011/2012 season on 5 May 2011. Brecel became a snooker player in June 2011, beating Anthony Hamilton in his first official professional match. By August 2011, he was ranked 87 on the Snooker world rankings, as second Belgian after Bjorn Haneveer, in January 2012, he made his first 147 break in an amateur tournament. He finished 69th on the Order of Merit, Brecel became the youngest ever player to qualify for the World Snooker Championship in 2012, after defeating Ian McCulloch, Barry Pinches, Michael Holt and Mark King. In doing so he broke the record of Stephen Hendry from 1986 and he also became one of five players to qualify for the tournament under 18 years of age and played in his first ranking event main draw, but lost 5–10 in the first round against Stephen Maguire. Although finishing the season outside the top 64 who automatically retain their places on the tour, Brecel received a two-year wildcard. World Snooker chairman, Barry Hearn said the decision was made as it would be a loss to the sport if Brecel did not feature, Brecel was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award at the World Snooker Annual Award Ceremony. In July 2012, Brecel made his second 147 break in an amateur tournament, in qualifying for the first ranking event of the season, the 2012 Wuxi Classic, Brecel reached the third qualifying round but ultimately lost 5–4 to Jamie Burnett. Next up for Brecel was the first PTC event of the year, the teenager had a good run, beating former world champions Graeme Dott and Ken Doherty on his way to the last 16 where he met Judd Trump who beat him 4–1. Brecel made two centuries in the tournament, Brecel was beaten in the first round of the second PTC event of the year, 4–2, by Matthew Selt. He fared a little better in the first European Tour event of the season reaching the last 64 but was beaten 4–3 by Rory McLeod, the Belgian was also knocked out in the last 64 of the third PTC of the season, 4–1, by Chinese player Xiao Guodong. He made one century in the tournament, Brecel lost in the last 64 of both the Gdynia Open and the Antwerp Open to Mark Joyce and Stuart Bingham respectively
27.
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
28.
2013 Australian Goldfields Open
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The 2013 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8–14 July 2013 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia. It was the ranking event of the 2013/2014 season. Michael White attempted a break in his qualifying match against Nigel Bond. With this he became the player along with Mark Selby, Ken Doherty, Barry Pinches. Shaun Murphy criticised his fellow professionals after eight of the top 16 players, another top 16 player, Ding Junhui, withdrew from the tournament at the last minute due to a passport issue. Barry Hawkins was the champion, but he lost 4–5 against Tom Ford in the last 16. Marco Fu won his second ranking title by defeating Neil Robertson 9–6 in the final, the total prize money of the event was raised to $445,000 from the previous years $435,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below and these matches were held between 30 May and 3 June 2013 at The Capital Venue in Gloucester, England. In the match between Barry Pinches and Simon Bedford a 19-year-old record from the stage of the 1994 British Open was broken. The match lasted 449 minutes and 46 seconds, the longest ever match in the history of professional snooker. The previous record was 434 minutes and 12 seconds in the match between Ian Williamson and Robby Foldvari,2013 Australian Goldfields Open – Pictures by Tai Chengzhe at Facebook
29.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
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Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is a professional snooker player from Thailand. Un-Nooh first entered the tour for the 2009/10 season by winning the 2008 IBSF World Snooker Championship. He dropped off the tour after just one season. He received the Thai nomination to compete on the tour for the 2012/2013 season. As a new player on the tour he needed to win four matches to reach the stage of the ranking events. Un-Nooh lost in the qualifying round in three of the first four ranking of the season. In September, it was announced that his match at the Players Tour Championship – Event 3 against Steve Davis was under investigation due to unusual betting patterns. Un-Nooh moved from an 8/11 odds-on favourite to 11/8 against just before the match started, in November, World Snooker released a statement to confirm that there was insufficient evidence and no further action would be taken against Un-Nooh. He reached the qualifying round for the UK Championship and the World Open. Un-Nooh played in nine of the ten Players Tour Championship Events during the season and his season ended when he was beaten 3–10 by Ben Woollaston in the third round of World Championship Qualifying, which saw him finish the year ranked world number 69. Un-Nooh lost in the rounds for the first four ranking events of the 2013/2014 season. In his first appearance in the draw of a ranking event he thrashed Zhang Anda 6–1. However, the experience seemed to kick start Un-Noohs season as in 2014 he played at the stage of four of the remaining six ranking events. At the World Open, Un-Nooh led Stephen Maguire 3–0, before the number eight rallied to win four frames in a row. The match went into a frame in which Un-Nooh made a break of sixty only for Maguire to get a chance to win. He then reached the last 16 of an event for the first time by beating Andrew Higginson 5–1 and lost 5–2 to Graeme Dott. Un-Nooh advanced to the last 32 of the China Open by whitewashing 1997 world champion Ken Doherty 5–0 and his performances during the campaign saw him end it in the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time as he was placed 59th. Un-Nooh qualified for the International Championship for the year in a row
30.
Tian Pengfei
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Tian Pengfei (Chinese, 田鵬飛 is a professional snooker player from the Peoples Republic of China. He began his career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004. Tian played on Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the World Snooker Tour for two seasons until he dropped off in 2008, during this period he also served a one-year ban for sexual harassment. In 2010, he won his first professional title, the Beijing International Challenge, Tian first competed on the Main Tour in the 2006/2007 season, dropping off the tour in the following season. As a wild card, Tian defeated Ronnie OSullivan 5–3 in the last 32 of the 2010 China Open at the Students University Stadium in Beijing. In an astonishing finish to the match, OSullivan missed a simple final black off its spot which would have levelled the score at 4–4. He also recorded some impressive victories in the Wuxi Classic, by beating Mark Selby 5–3 and Joe Perry 5–1, despite these results, he was not awarded a wild card by World Snooker to compete on the main tour. The next professional tournament he competed in was the Beijing International Challenge, in the group stages he recorded wins over Stephen Hendry and Stephen Maguire, before beating Liang Wenbo 6–4 and Ryan Day 9–3 to win the title. Tian qualified for the 2011/2012 main tour as a semi-finalist from the second Q School event, as an unranked player, Tian would need to win four matches to qualify for the main draw of the ranking event tournaments. He failed to do throughout the season, coming closest in his first event. He won his first two matches against Aditya Mehta and Anthony McGill before being given a bye into the qualifying round due to the withdrawal of Anthony Hamilton. In the final round Tian lost 4–5 to Mark Davis, Tian finished the year ranked world number 78, out of the top 64 who guarantee their places for the 2012/2013 season. However, he was awarded the first nomination from the Chinese national governing body for a spot on the tour, Tian could not qualify for the main draw of any of the ranking events during the season. However, he had a good season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship Events. At the second European Tour Event he won four matches which included a last 16 triumph over top 16 player Stuart Bingham to reach the quarter-finals, where he was whitewashed 0–4 by Neil Robertson. Tian went one better at the sixth European Tour Event with wins over the likes of Jamie Burnett, Mark Davis and Martin Gould in the quarter-finals to advance to the semis. There he lost 2–4 to Mark Selby, but finished a lofty 30th on the PTC Order of Merit, Tians season ended when he was beaten 7–10 by Jimmy White in the second round of World Championship Qualifying, to finish the campaign ranked world number 70. In his opening match, Tian defeated Luca Brecel 5–3 to qualify for the 2013 Wuxi Classic in China where he was whitewashed 5–0 by Jack Lisowski in the first round
Malta
Stephen Hendry
Ken Doherty
Darren Morgan
Jimmy White
Bjorn Haneveer
Roy Stolk
