Snooker History
The development of Snooker is attributed to Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain who was a British officer serving in pre-independent India. He developed the sport in 1875 in India at the Army Officers Mess in Jabalpur. The first year cadets were called “snookers” in army slang. The new game was named after this term.
The game was taken to England by John Roberts, a billiards British champion who happened to visit Chamberlain way back in 1885. Snooker has a lot in common with the pool games played on billiards tables. Joe Davis OBE is the most famous player in snooker history and has won virtually every world snooker championship from 1927 on to 1946.
The Rules
Snooker is played with fifteen red balls and six balls in colours of black, yellow, pink, green, blue and brown. A white ball serves as the shooter. The fifteen red balls are placed in a triangular form near the foot of the snooker table. The other six coloured balls are placed on various spots on the table.
A red ball needs to be pocketed before a coloured ball can be shot at. Each red ball accounts for one point. A player can play a coloured ball after a red ball has been pocketed. While red balls are left in the pocket, coloured balls are immediately returned to its original spot if it is empty. If not, the nearest vacant spot is chosen. The coloured balls must be played in their order of value after all the red balls have been pocketed. After the table gets empty, the highest scorer wins the game.
Snooker in Australia
The Australian Billiards & Snooker Council is one of the main associations that nurture the sport in Australia. Various local and state clubs also conduct competitions and matches at regular intervals. Snooker is popular in Western Australia and cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide have a lot of snooker activity.