Snooker is a cue sport that originated among British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century. It is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth or "baize", with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side.
Using a cue stick and 21 coloured balls, players must strike the white ball or "cue ball" to pot or pocket the remaining balls in the correct sequence, accumulating points for each pot. An individual game or frame is won by the player scoring the most points. A match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.
The world snooker hampionship has taken place since 1927. Joe Davis, a key figure and pioneer in the early growth of the sport, won the championship 15 straight times between 1927 and 1946. The "modern era" began in 1969 after the broadcaster BBC commissioned the snooker television show Pot Black and later began to air the world championship in 1978. Key figures in the game were ray reardon in the 1970s, Steve Davis in the 1980s, and Stephen Hendry in the 1990s, each winning six or more world championships. Since 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the most world titles, with six.
High in the rankings primarily due to huge interest in China, where it is the number 4 sport. Also some interest in UK, where it was traditionally based. Now a large part of tour is played in China, whilst world championship has a prize pot of over $1 million.
