ABOUT GAME

For other uses, see Snooker (disambiguation).

Snooker

Snooker player Mark Selby playing a practice game
Highest governing body	World Snooker Association
First played	19th century
Characteristics
Categorization	Cue sport
Equipment	Snooker balls
Olympic	No But has IOC recognition

Snooker (UK /ˈsnuːkər, -kə/^[1] or US /ˈsnʊkər/^[2]) is a cue sport that is typically played on a table covered with a green cloth or baize, with pockets situated in each of the four corners and a further two, commonly referred to as the middle, or side pockets, that sit in the middle of each of the long side cushions. The (baize) cloth on a snooker table has a directional naprunning from the balk end of the table towards the end with the (black ball) spot. This affects how a ball rolls depending on which direction it is hit or shot. A regular (full-size) table is 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m). It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7).^[3] A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player receives additional points if the opponent commits a foul or fails to escape from a snooker. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won.

Snooker, generally regarded as having been invented in India by British Army officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries,^[4] with top professional players attaining multi-million-pound career earnings from the game.^[5] The sport is now increasingly popular in China.^[6]