The ⬆️ 🔟 Greatest Snooker Players of all ⌚

So we all know that snooker is a long, hard game, But is it? We know that it is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth, with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. And you need to have a Snooker table, snooker balls, a good cue, triangle, chalk and maybe even a referee. In this blog I am going to show you the Top 10 Greatest Snooker Players of All Time.

10. Judd Trump

Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player from Bristol who is the reigning World Champion and the current world number one. After winning the English Under-13 and Under-15 championships, and reaching the World Under-21 Championship semi-finals, Trump turned professional in 2005, aged 16. He captured his first ranking title at the 2011 China Open, defeating Selby 10–8 in the final. The following month, he reached the final of the 2011 World Championship, but lost 15–18 to John Higgins. He claimed his first Triple Crown title later that year when he won the 2011 UK Championship, defeating Mark Allen 10–8 in the final.

By the end of the 2017–18 snooker season, Trump had won a total of eight ranking titles, although many believed that he had underachieved up to that point in his career, given his talent. During the 2018–19 snooker season, his form and focus notably improved. In addition to ranking titles at the Northern Ireland Open and the World Grand Prix, he won his first Masters title, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–4 in the final, and completed his Triple Crown by winning his first World Snooker Championship, defeating Higgins 18–9 in what some commentators described as the highest-quality world final ever played. He also became the first snooker player to win over £1 million in prize money in a single season.

In the 2019–20 snooker season so far, Trump has won six ranking tournaments, setting a new record for the most ranking titles in a single season. A prolific break-builder, he has compiled more than 700 century breaks in professional competition, making him the youngest player to achieve this feat and only the fifth player ever to reach the 700-century mark.

BONUS:

Scores for 2019 World Championship

Judd Trump (Eng) 18-9 John Higgins (Sco)

Gary Wilson (Eng) 11-17 Judd Trump (Eng)

Neil Robertson (Aus) 10-13 John Higgins (Sco)

Judd Trump (Eng) 13-6 Stephen Maguire

Judd Trump (Eng) 13-9 Ding Junhui

Judd Trump (Eng) 10-9 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Born: 20 August 1989

Height: 1.8 m

World Champion: 2019

Career winnings: £4,089,754

Century breaks: 704

Nicknames: The Juddernaut, The Ace in the Pack, Stud Trump, Judd Triumph, Haircut 100, Danny the Boy

9. Jimmy White

Jimmy White, is an English professional snooker player who now competes with an invitational tour card. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play and popularly referred to as the "People's Champion", White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, 2010 and 2019 World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.

Born: 2 May 1962

Height: 1.73 m

Career winnings: £4,730,928

Current ranking: 123

Children: Tommy Tiger, Lauren White, Leah White

8. Alex Higgins

Alexander Gordon Higgins was a Northern Irish professional snooker player, who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed Hurricane Higgins because of his fast play, he was World Champion in 1972 and 1982, and runner-up in 1976 and 1980.

Born: 18 March 1949, Belfast

Children: Jordan Higgins, Lauren Higgins

Nicknames: Hurricane Higgins

7. Ray Reardon

Raymond Reardon, MBE is a Welsh retired snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships. He is widely considered as one of the greatest players of all time. His dark widow's peak and sharp-toothed grin earned him the nickname "Dracula". Reardon's first appearance at the World Championship was in 1969, and he won his first title the following year, beating John Pulman 37–33 in London. After winning the title, Reardon was in big demand for exhibitions and on the holiday camp circuit. Winning the first ever Pot Black in 1969 made him instantly recognisable; Reardon and John Spencer were the first to capitalise on the snooker boom in the early 1970s.

Born: 8 October 1932 (age 87 years), Tredegar

Nickname: Dracula

World Champion: 1970; 1973; 1974; 1975; 1976; 1978

Career winnings: £307,207

Century breaks: 53

Highest break: 146

6. Mark Williams

Mark James Williams, is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003, and 2018. Aged 43 when he triumphed in May 2018, he became the second oldest winner of the World Championship at the Crucible. The first left-handed player to win the World Championship, Williams has won 22 ranking tournaments overall, including two UK Championships (1999 and 2002), making him fifth on the all-time list. He has also won the Masters on two occasions (1998 and 2003). Having failed to win a tournament from 2011 until 2017, he proceeded to win three events in 2018, including his third World Championship. Williams has compiled more than 470 century breaks during his career, as well as two maximum breaks in competition.

Born: 21 March 1975 (age 45 years), Cwm

Height: 1.83 m

Spouse: Joanne Dent (m. 2011)

World Champion: 2000; 2003; 2018

Career winnings: £6,112,883

Current ranking: 3 (as of 2 March 2020)

5. Steve Davis

Steve Davis, is an English retired professional snooker player from Plumstead, London. He dominated the sport during the 1980s, when he reached eight World Championship finals in nine years, won six world titles, and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. At the 1985 World Championship, Davis dropped only 23 frames en route to the final, where his opponent was Dennis Taylor. He looked set for a third consecutive world title after an opening session of near-faultless snooker gave him a 7–0 lead, which he extended to 8–0 in the evening session, but Taylor recovered to trail only 7–9. From 11–11 the pair traded frames before Davis forged ahead to lead 17–15. Taylor won the next two frames to level the match at 17–17 and force a deciding frame. With the scores close, Taylor potted the final colours to leave the black as the winner-takes-all ball. After a series of safety shots and attempts at potting it, Davis over-cut the black, leaving Taylor with a reasonably straightforward pot to secure the championship.

Born: 22 August 1957 World Champion: 1981; 1983; 1984; 1987; 1988; 1989

Career winnings: £5.5 million

Century breaks: 355

4. Mark Selby

Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker player. He has been World Snooker Champion three times and was number one in the world rankings for over four years continuously. He has won 17 ranking titles, which puts him in joint seventh place by ranking tournament wins in history. He won the Scottish Open in December 2019, beating Jack Lisowski 9–6 in the final to pick up the Stephen Hendry Trophy. Having also won the English Open earlier in the season, he became the first player to win more than one tournament in the Home Nations Series in a single season.

Born: 19 June 1983

World Champion: 2014; 2016; 2017

Career winnings: £5,316,908

World ranking: 4

3. John Higgins

John Higgins, is a Scottish professional snooker player. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 30 ranking titles, including four World Championships and three UK Championships, as well as two Masters titles, making him one of the most successful players in the history of the sport. Higgins turned professional in 1992 and reached the quarter-finals of the British Open during his first season on the professional tour. He rose to prominence in the 1994/1995 season when, at the age of 19, he won his first ranking tournament at the Grand Prix, defeating Dave Harold 9–6 in the final.

Born: 18 May 1975

World Champion: 1998; 2007; 2009; 2011

Current ranking: 5 (as of 2 March 2020)

Minor-ranking: 3

Non-ranking: 19

2. Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry is a Scottish former professional snooker player. One of the most successful players in the history of snooker, he has won snooker's most amazing tournament, the World Snooker Championship, a record seven times in the modern-era and holds the record for most seasons as world number one. His first world title in 1990, at the age of 21, made him the youngest-ever World Champion, a record that he still holds!

Born: 13 January 1969

World Champion: 1990; 1992; 1993; 1994; 1995; 1996; 1999

Career winnings: £8.97 million

Nicknames: The Golden Boy, Golden Bairn, The Wonder, The King of The Crucible, The Great One, The IceMan, The Maestro

Ronnie O’Sullivan

Ronnnie O'Sullivan is an English professional snooker player from Essex. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won five World Championships, a record seven Masters titles, and a record seven UK Championships. He holds the record total of 19 titles in Triple Crown tournaments. O'Sullivan plays in a fast and attacking manner. He is a prolific break-builder and solid tactical player.

Born: 5 December 1975

Century breaks: 1,045

World Champion: 2001; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2013

Career winnings: £11,110,665

Highest break: 147 (15 times)

Current ranking: 7 (as of 2 March 2020)

OFFICIAL RULES:

The objective of this exciting game is to score more points than one's opponent by potting object balls in the correct order. At the start of a frame, the balls are positioned as shown in the first image, and the players then take turns hitting shots by striking the cue ball with the tip of the cue, their aim being to pot one of the red balls into a pocket and thereby score a point. Failure to make contact with the red ball constitutes a foul shot. If the striker pots a red ball, he or she must then pot one of the six "colours". If the player successfully pots a colour, the value of that ball is added to the player's score, and the ball is returned to its starting position on the table. After that, the player must pot another red ball, then another colour, in sequence. This process continues until the striker fails to pot the desired ball, at which point the opponent comes to the table to play the next shot. The act of scoring sequentially in this manner is to make a break.

Snooker is one of the world’s most popular games due to its growth in India and China but, for now, it remains largely dominated by British players at the highest level. The Snooker World Championship is – for many – one of the biggest sporting events of the year but the sport is also played in clubs all over the world by amateurs of all levels.

It developed from another cue sport, billiards, which began in the 16th century, with snooker coming along in the late 19th century. The first official snooker tournament was in 1916 with the first World Championship appearing in 1927 and since then the popularity of the game has ebbed and flowed, with the 1970s and 1980s probably the game’s finest era.

Players score one point for potting a red, after which they must nominate a colour for their next shot. The black is worth seven and is the most valuable going down through pink (six), blue (five), brown (four), green (three) and yellow (two). After each colour (the six colours are re-spotted but the reds are not) the player reverts to a red and alternates red, then colour until all the reds are potted. The remaining six colours are then potted in ascending points order, thus finishing with the black.

A player continues until he misses a ball or commits a foul, the players alternating turns. The maximum standard break (the term given to a consecutive run of pots) is 147 (15 reds taken with 15 blacks and then all the colours).

If a player commits a foul their opponent is awarded four points, unless the foul occurred whilst playing the blue, pink or black or hit one of those higher values first, in which case the foul is worth the value of the ball in question.

Players take it in turns to break (start the frame) with a coin toss deciding who starts the first frame. The break is made with the cue-ball in the D and a red must be struck.
If both players agree a frame can be restarted, if, for example, both players agree the balls are so placed that the frame could lead to a stalemate.
A push shot, which is a foul, is when the tip of the cue remains in contact with the cue-ball as it in turn touches the target ball. The cue ball must only be played with one clean strike of the cue.
The referee may call a miss if the player does not strike the correct ball and is adjudged not to have made a serious attempt to. The other player is awarded the foul (four or more) and has the option to make the player replay the shot.
All balls must be stationary before the next shot is played.
The cue ball must hit the nominated ball first, or if it is a red, any red. Failure to do so is a foul, as is not hitting any ball or potting a non-nominated ball.
If the player touches any ball with any part of their body or any ball other than the white with their cue it is a foul.
Hitting a ball off the table is a foul. Reds are not replaced but colours will be re-spotted.
If the spot on which a colour would usually be replaced is covered by another ball the colour is placed on the next highest available spot. If all spots are occupied the colour is placed as close to its spot as possible, between that spot and the top cushion. The ball must not be touching any other ball.
When the cue-ball is touching another ball the referee shall state “touching ball” and the player must play away from that ball. If that ball moves it is a foul. If the player nominated that ball then they can play away and it is classed as already having made contact with that ball.
If a player fouls and the other player cannot hit the whole of the next legal ball then a free ball is declared. The player may then hit any ball of their choice (they must nominate) and this will score and act as per the next legal ball, meaning, for example, that the black may be nominated as a red and if potted, followed by a colour.
The player must have at least some part of one foot on the ground whilst playing a shot.
Potting the white is a foul, as is a jump shot, where one ball leaves the table and clears another ball.

INTRODUCTION:

So we all know that snooker is a long, hard game, But is it? We know that it is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth, with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. And you need to have a Snooker table, snooker balls, a good cue, triangle, chalk and maybe even a referee. In this book I am going to show you the Top 10 Greatest Snooker Players of All Time.