Thursday 11 June 2009

End of season snooker rankings 2008/2009

Here is the official end of season snooker rankings for 2008/2009.

1. Ronnie O'Sullivan
2. Stephen Maguire
3. Shaun Murphy
4. John Higgins MBE
5. Allister Carter
6. Ryan Day
7. Mark Selby
8. Marco Fu
9. Neil Robertson
10. Stephen Hendry MBE
11. Mark Allen
12. Joe Perry
13. Ding Junhui
14. Peter Ebdon
15. Mark Williams MBE
16. Mark King
17. Barry Hawkins
18. Jamie Cope
19. Dave Harold
20. Ricky Walden
21. Stuart Bingham
22. Joe Swail
23. Steve Davis OBE
24. Michael Holt
25. Stephen Lee
26. Matthew Stevens
27. Liang Wenbo
28. Graeme Dott
29. Nigel Bond
30. Judd Trump
31. Fergal O'Brien
32. Gerard Greene
33. Anthony Hamilton
34. Dominic Dale
35. Ian McCulloch
36. Michael Judge
37. Stuart Pettman
38. Mike Dunn
39. Rory McLeod
40. Jamie Burnett
41. Alan McManus
42. Adrian Gunnell
43. Andrew Higginson
44. Ken Doherty
45. Marcus Campbell
46. Martin Gould
47. Mark Davis
48. Jimmy Michie
49. Tom Ford
50. Andy Hicks
51. David Gilbert
52. Barry Pinches
53. John Parrott MBE
54. Paul Davies
55. Robert Milkins
56. Jimmy White MBE
57. Mark Joyce
58. David Morris
59. Liu Song
60. Jin Long
61. Rod Lawler
62. David Roe
63. Joe Delaney
64. Peter Lines

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