Also called snooker, it is a modality played on a 12-foot pool table in which players use a cue ball to pocket the other balls (fifteen red and six colored balls) in a set order, each ball except the red one has a different score.
In this article I give you the most important things about snooker.
Snooker was invented in India in 1875 by officers of the British colonial troops. The usual form as it was called before was Black Pool or English Billiards, with fifteen red balls and one black ball.
It is said that Sir Neville Chamberlain experimented with a variant at an English Billiards table, adding other balls to the fifteen red balls and one black ball.
This gave rise to the “Snooker-Pool”, which in its first form contained fifteen red balls as well as one black, one pink, one green and one yellow ball.
Later the game was modified by adding brown and blue balls.
The game is very popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, India, Thailand, Hong Kong and China.
It is played on a 12-foot table, and the pockets are smaller than those of a billiard table, it has a total of twenty-two balls counting the cue ball, which have different points, and when you pocket a ball, the points are added up.
The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by pocketing the balls in a certain order.
In each of which the player must try to make the greatest number of combinations of red ball plus colored ball. That is to say, first a red ball is aimed at, pocketed into one of the six pockets on the table, thus scoring a point, and then a colored ball must be pocketed, adding the value of the colored ball pocketed to the score. The referee returns the pocketed colored ball to its position.
Once all the red balls have been pocketed, with their corresponding combinations, the colored balls are pocketed in order of value.
The corresponding ball must be pocketed or the player will commit a foul that will add at least four points to his opponent’s score.
A snooker cue is designed shorter than a pool cue, is 57 to 58 inches or 140 to 150 cm in size and has removable extensions to make the cue 6 inches or 15 cm longer.
Many snooker cues are hinged with brass fittings the 2/3 or even the ¾ back.
Longer cases or cases are needed for these cues.
The tip of the cue has a diameter between 8.5 to 10.5 mm which provides more precision and finesse with snooker balls, which are smaller than pool and snooker balls.
The backs of the snooker cue are usually flat on one side, so that the cue can lie flat on the table rail and slide along the rail.
This flat tactile back side also helps the player develop a very specific way of keeping the cue consistent on each shot for even hitting.
Cue weights range from 16 to 18 ounces.
While the lighter cues are for beginner players to develop the correct technique when starting out, some professional players use lighter 15 to 16 1/2 ounce cues.
Snooker tables are longer than billiard tables and the pockets are shorter.
The Strachan brand manufactures the best cloths for snooker tables.
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