Snooker

Snooker is a cue game. Snooker is a very popular game in the Commonwealth countries and specifically the Far East. The Snooker board is normally of dimensions, 12 feet × 6 feet and 3.6 m x 1.8 m. There are pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of the long cushion sides too. The game uses a cue, fifteen red balls each worth one point, a white cue ball, and six balls of different colors and varying points ranging from two to seven each.

The game is between players or between teams too. The winner has to score more points than the opponent does by potting the balls using the cue ball in specific techniques. Before the beginning of the game, players or teams decide on the number of games or frames making a match.

Snooker championships have been going on since 1916. Although there was a steady progress in the game, the fifties and sixties saw a slight decline in the game. There were no snooker tournaments between 1958 and 1963. Slowly, the game regained its popularity in the seventies. The television coverage of the game made it a professional sport. Slowly, it became an important game.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, WPBSA, at Bristol in England is the governing body for the professional snooker game. The International Billiards and Snooker Federation, IBSF, govern the amateur game.