Monday 23 February 2009

Provisional Rankings following the Welsh Open

Provisional World Snooker Rankings following the Welsh Open 2009.

1 Ronnie O´Sullivan 47275
2 Stephen Maguire 42350
3 Allister Carter 36825
4 Shaun Murphy 36675
5 Marco Fu 32850
6 Ryan Day 32475
7 John Higgins 31825
8 Mark Selby 31075
9 Joe Perry 30775
10 Neil Robertson 26925
11 Mark Allen 25775
12 Stephen Hendry 25625
13 Junhui Ding 25144
14 Mark Williams 25119
15 Barry Hawkins 23800
16 Dave Harold 23557
17 Peter Ebdon 23000
18 Mark King 22600
19 Stuart Bingham 22044
20 Joe Swail 21519
21 Jamie Cope 21432
22 Matthew Stevens 21407
23 Ricky Walden 21350
24 Steve Davis 21169
25 Wenbo Liang 19575
26 Michael Holt 19025
27 Stephen Lee 18988
28 Dominic Dale 18895
29 Fergal O'Brien 18245
30 Judd Trump 18201
31 Anthony Hamilton 18138
32 Ian McCulloch 17538

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Snooker History

The game is generally regarded to have originated in the latter half of the 19th century. Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised.

One variation, devised in the officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 or 1875, was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool. The word snooker also has military origins, being a slang term for first-year cadets or inexperienced personnel.

One version of events states that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment was playing this new game when his opponent failed to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a snooker. It thus became attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players were labelled as snookers.

The game of snooker grew in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. By 1927, the first World Snooker Championship had been organised by Joe Davis. As a professional English billiards and snooker player, he moved the game from a pastime activity into a more professional sphere.

Joe Davis won every world championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played. Things saw some improvement when in 1969, when

David Attenborough who was then a top official of the BBC, commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting.

The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two. Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Championship was the first to be fully televised. The game quickly became a mainstream sport in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised.

In 1985 a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding frame of the world championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis.

Ronnie O'Sullivan wins The Masters 2009.

World Snooker Champions

World Snooker Champion 1977 - John Spencer
World Snooker Champion 1978 - Ray Reardon
World Snooker Champion 1979 - Terry Griffiths
World Snooker Champion 1980 - Cliff Thorburn
World Snooker Champion 1981 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1982 - Alex Higgins
World Snooker Champion 1983 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1984 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1985 - Dennis Taylor
World Snooker Champion 1986 - Joe Johnson
World Snooker Champion 1987 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1988 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1989 - Steve Davis
World Snooker Champion 1990 - Stephen Hendry
World Snooker Champion 1991 - John Parrott
World Snooker Champion 1992 to 1996 - Stephen Hendry
World Snooker Champion 1997 - Ken Doherty
World Snooker Champion 1998 - John Higgins
World Snooker Champion 1999 - Stephen Hendry
World Snooker Champion 2000 - Mark Williams
World Snooker Champion 2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
World Snooker Champion 2002 - Peter Ebdon
World Snooker Champion 2003 - Mark Williams
World Snooker Champion 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
World Snooker Champion 2005 - Shaun Murphy
World Snooker Champion 2006 - Graeme Dott
World Snooker Champion 2007 - John Higgins
World Snooker Champion 2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
World Snooker Champion 2009 - John Higgins
World Snooker Champion 2010 - Neil Robertson
World Snooker Champion 2011 - John Higgins
World Snooker Champion 2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan