A Momentary Glimpse At The Description Of The Sport Snooker

Imperialism and territorial expansion have historically fostered cultural exchanges. The Greeks exported their own peculiar brand of knowledge and logic. The Romans left roads and viaducts in Britain. The English occupation of India brought cities and irrigation canals, as well as the games of cricket and snooker. Though cricket was in existence long before England turned its imperialistic eye on the Asian sub-continent, by contrast snooker was invented during the English occupation. Despite that, the history of the game snooker is buried in the misty recesses of time.

This new game, supposedly invented in the officer's mess at Jabalpur, came about by adding additional colored or "pool" balls to the usual collection of fifteen red and black balls used in the more traditional games, the precursors to snooker. One of these games, Black Pool, whose rules had been well established as early as 1819, predated snooker by fifty-five years.

Snooker's earliest versions originally use four "pool" balls. This was then increased to five, and later to six. It also was called "Snooker Pool" and "Snooker's Pool".

The name Snooker is believed to have its origins in British military slang. Snooker was a term applied to inexperienced, first year cadets at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. While playing this new billiard-like game, Colonel Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain, who was no ancestor to the British Prime Minister by the same name, found himself without a shot. His opponent had missed his shot and failed to "pot" or hole a ball. Chamberlain called his opponent "a snooker" and somehow this name got attached to the game. Soldiers returning from India to England returned with both the game and the name.

This version of Snooker's origin should be taken with a grain of salt. No written account of the game's creation exists prior to 1930. No reliable news or reference source hints at Chamberlain's role in either the creation or the naming of the game. Despite that, the game grew in popularity and it spread quickly. The game was exported to Australia in 1887 by Frank Smith, Sr., and the first official set of rules was put down by the British Billiards Association in 1903.

The popularity of snooker rapidly spread over its first fifty years. Nonetheless it remained an amateur pastime and was largely perceived as a betting game. The first amateur snooker tournament took place in 1916, and by 1923 the first professional tournament was hosted. In 1927, the first World Snooker Competition was held, organized by a billiard and snooker player, Joe Davis. Davis won the first competition and he went on to win every World competition until he quit the game in 1947.

Snooker became one of several popular mainstream sports in the British Commonwealth. Since 1980 the game has spread to Asia and in particular to China. At home the game garners appreciation and attention with many of the major ranking tournaments televised. Today, the spread of snooker to new markets with new, emerging players points to a strong future for the sport.

Author: Hobart Jenkins

Hobart T. Jenkins has been an ardent contestant of the fantastic game of snooker for numerous years. Learn more about the game of snooker, the art of creating a masterful
snooker cue and the distinctive types of
snooker cues available nowadays at his blog.