55 Fun Facts About Snooker

What is the semicircle marked behind a snooker table's baulk line called?

The D: a player breaking off, or taking the white in hand after it has been potted, may place it anywhere inside it.

Which British Army officer devised snooker's first rules in India in the 1870s and 1880s?

Neville Chamberlain, not the prime minister: he is said to have mocked a young officer's poor play by calling him a 'snooker', army slang for a raw first-year cadet.

What does a snooker referee call when a player fails to make a proper attempt to hit the ball on?

A miss: the opponent can have every ball put back and make the offender play the shot again, and a third miss in a row can forfeit the frame.

Snooker's rules were finalised in 1882 at Stone House in which Indian hill station?

The table, by Burroughes & Watts, had been shipped to India by sea.

What may a snooker referee call when a foul leaves the next player unable to hit both sides of the ball on?

A free ball: the player may nominate any other ball in place of the one they are on, which is how a break can reach 155 rather than 147.

In snooker, what is the foul called when the cue ball drops into a pocket after striking another ball?

An in-off: it costs at least four points, more if a higher-value ball was involved, and the next player takes the white in hand.

If the scores are level when all the balls have been potted, how is the frame decided?

A re-spotted black: the black goes back on its spot, the next player plays from in hand, and the first pot or foul ends the frame.

What stone forms the bed beneath the cloth of a quality snooker table?

Slate: though called 12 by 6 feet, a full-size table's playing area inside the cushions is actually 11 ft 8½ in by 5 ft 10 in.

Before plastics, what were the best balls for snooker and other cue sports made from?

Ivory: the hunt for a substitute pushed John Wesley Hyatt to experiment with cellulose nitrate, the material that became celluloid.

Which type of rest, named after a bird, is used for shots that are awkward to play by hand?

Swan: its long neck reaches over balls in the way.

A maximum break of 147 is made by potting all fifteen reds with what, then clearing the colours?

Blacks: fifteen reds taken with fifteen blacks make 120 points, and clearing the six colours from yellow to black adds the last 27.

Who made snooker's first officially recognised maximum break?

Joe Davis: the governing body at first refused to recognise his 147 because the match wasn't played under its rules, and only ratified it in 1957.

Against which player did Steve Davis make snooker's first televised maximum at the 1982 Classic?

John Spencer: Steve Davis's reward for making that first televised maximum was a Lada car from the tournament's sponsors.

Which Canadian made the first maximum break at the World Championship?

Cliff Thorburn: while he was on the break, play stopped on the tournament's other table because his friend Bill Werbeniuk wanted to watch.

Roughly how long did Ronnie O'Sullivan's maximum break at the 1997 World Championship take?

About 5 minutes: officially timed at 5 minutes 8 seconds, it earned him £147,000 for the maximum and £18,000 for the tournament's highest break.

Which player came back from 5–9 down to beat Mark Williams 10–9 in a 2010 ranking final?

John Higgins: he needed a snooker in the 17th frame just to stay in the match, then won the deciding frame.

Which 1959 Joe Davis variant added orange and purple balls, raising the maximum break to 210?

The orange sat between pink and blue and was worth eight; the purple was worth ten.

Why wasn't the 147 made at the 1979 Holsten Lager International captured on television?

The crew were on a break: the 147 didn't count as official either, because the table's pockets hadn't been checked against the templates.

Which BBC controller commissioned Pot Black to show off colour television?

David Attenborough: the matches were recorded in advance, and reporters kept the results quiet until each one had been broadcast.

Ted Lowe told viewers, 'for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the' what?

Green: 'Whispering Ted' got his nickname because he sat among the audience, with no commentary box, and spoke softly so as not to disturb the players.

Which Sheffield venue has staged the World Championship every year since 1977?

The Crucible Theatre: it takes its name from the crucible, a nod to the crucible steel that drove Sheffield's industrial growth.

Which cigarette brand sponsored the World Snooker Championship for thirty consecutive years?

Embassy: its thirty-year run ended when Britain's ban on tobacco sponsorship finally reached snooker, alongside Formula One, in 2005.

What was six-time 1970s champion Ray Reardon nicknamed for his widow's peak and eye teeth?

Dracula: after being buried for hours in a pit collapse, he left coal mining to join the Stoke-on-Trent police.

Ronnie O'Sullivan became snooker's oldest world champion in 2022 by beating which player in the final?

Judd Trump: he trailed 5–12 overnight before a fightback, and O'Sullivan, aged 46, closed it out 18–13.

Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins won the 1972 world title at his first attempt, the first what to do so?

Qualifier: a miners' strike was on, so the final's opening session was played in dim light from a mobile generator.

Which Welshman said 'I'm in the final now, you know' on his way to winning the 1979 world title?

Terry Griffiths: he had turned professional only the year before, and won the title in just his second professional tournament.

Steve Davis was given the sardonic nickname 'Interesting' by which satirical TV show?

Spitting Image: Davis later turned the nickname into the title of his 2015 autobiography, Interesting.

Which banned kind of medication earned Canadian player Bill Werbeniuk a fine from snooker's authorities?

A beta blocker: he insisted he took propranolol only on doctor's orders and couldn't play without it, but was fined anyway.

When a frame reaches a stalemate that neither player will break, what can the referee do?

Restart the frame: every score in it is wiped and the balls are set up afresh, a process commonly called a re-rack.

The 1985 black-ball final drew 18.5 million viewers after midnight on which channel?

BBC Two: Dennis Taylor, who had trailed Steve Davis 0–8, won the deciding frame for an 18–17 win shortly after midnight.

Which 150-1 outsider, not part of the Matchroom Mob, won the 1986 World Championship?

Joe Johnson: he had lost in the first round on both earlier trips to the championship's main stage, then beat Steve Davis 18–12 in the final.

Which duo wrote and performed 'Snooker Loopy' with the Matchroom Mob in 1986?

Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths and Tony Meo sang along.

Canadian Bill Werbeniuk drank pints of lager during matches on medical advice to counteract what?

A tremor: he reportedly even claimed his lager as a tax-deductible expense.

Why did Ronnie O'Sullivan deliberately make 146 instead of 147 at the 2016 Welsh Open?

Too little prize money: he called the £10,000 on offer too cheap, potted the pink off the second-last red, and World Snooker's chairman called it disrespectful.

Who became snooker's youngest world champion in 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days?

Stephen Hendry: in 2012 he made a maximum at the World Championship, then announced his retirement straight after losing in the quarter-finals.

Which player reached six world finals between 1984 and 1994 and lost every one?

Jimmy White: in the 1994 decider a routine pot off its spot went astray, and the title eluded him again.

O'Sullivan's second world title in 2004 came with an 18-8 final win over which Scot?

Graeme Dott: he raced into a 5–0 lead before O'Sullivan hit back to win 18–8.

Which Irishman beat the defending champion in the 1997 world final, ending his record 29-match winning run at the championship?

Ken Doherty: in the 2003 final he recovered from 2–10 down to level at 11–11, but still lost 16–18.

Mark Williams promised to do what if he won the 2018 world title?

Give his press conference naked: he arrived in just a towel and removed it once safely seated behind the table.

Which Australian won the 2010 world title and was the first player to make 100 centuries in a season?

Neil Robertson: on the way to that 2010 title he came back from 5–11 down to beat Martin Gould 13–12.

Which city is home to snooker world champion Mark Selby?

Leicester: in the 2014 world final he came back from 5–10 down against Ronnie O'Sullivan to win 18–14 for his first title.

In snooker, what must you do when the cue ball comes to rest touching a ball you are on?

Play away from it: moving the touching ball makes it a push stroke, but simply playing away from a ball you are on costs no penalty.

Which Belgian became the first continental European snooker world champion in 2023?

Luca Brecel: he came back from 5–14 down against Si Jiahui in the semi-final.

Who became the first Asian world snooker champion in 2025, after a 20-month match-fixing ban?

Zhao Xintong: the ban had cost him his professional status, so he won the title as an amateur.

Which Matchroom founder took control of the World Snooker Tour in 2010?

Barry Hearn: in the years after his takeover, professional tournaments became both more numerous and more lucrative.

Who was the referee on the BBC game show Big Break, hosted by Jim Davidson from 1991?

John Virgo: he also ran 'Virgo's Trick Shot', where the losing contestant tried to copy a shot he had just demonstrated.

Which referee became the first woman to officiate a World Championship final, in 2009?

Michaela Tabb: after leaving the tour in 2015 following a dispute, she sued World Snooker for sex discrimination, and the case was settled.

Which player won ten consecutive World Women's Snooker Championships from 2005 to 2014?

Reanne Evans: that dominance earned her a wildcard onto the professional tour in 2010, but she was relegated at the end of the season.

Snooker's Triple Crown consists of the World Championship, the UK Championship and which other event?

O'Sullivan holds the record with 23 Triple Crown titles.

Which 18-year-old won the 2005 China Open, beating a seven-time world champion in the final?

Ding Junhui: because he had entered as a wildcard, the title earned him no ranking points and no winner's cheque.

Which Leeds-born player, nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize', died of cancer in 2006 aged just 27?

Paul Hunter: a German tournament he had won in 2004 was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic after his death.

How did the governing body behind the boycotted 1952 World Snooker Championship regard the title?

As a matter of honour: the professionals' association disagreed and staged its own championship, so only two players entered the official event.

Which short-lived snooker format ran only in 2010 and 2011, with Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the first event?

Power Snooker: its launch rules paid a 50-point bonus for a century break, but that reward was scrapped for the 2011 event.

What material is the tip of a snooker cue usually made from?

Leather: players rub chalk on it to give it grip on the white and cut down on miscues.

When striking the ball in snooker, what must a player keep touching the floor?

At least one foot: players may lean right across the table, but lifting both feet is a foul worth at least four points.