Ep.37: Snooker – Order to Pot Balls
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
Today's episode will be on Snooker and in particular the order that you pot the coloured balls and of course their value.
Said to be a “gentleman’s sport, the name “snooker” actually came as a derogatory term used to describe inexperienced military personnel.
It was popularised by the BBC’s airing of Pot Black, and now players play for millions of dollars, on a world tour.
Along with this it’s been a big week in the world with the Queens Platinum Jubilee and her associated 4-day party, which is something we won’t see another of, in our lifetime and maybe never. And also, I had the privilege to see Top Gun Maverick last night, which I think, will go down as one of the best sequels of all time. They absolutely nailed it and it was totally worth the 36-year wait.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
Snooker (pronounced UK: /ˈsnuːkər/ SNOO-kər, US: /ˈsnʊkər/ SNUUK-ər)[1][2] is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with twenty-two balls, comprising a white cue ball, fifteen red balls, and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black—collectively called the colours. Using a cue stick, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each time the opposing player or team commits a foul. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points. A snooker match ends when a player reaches a predetermined number of frames.
Snooker gained its identity in 1875 when army officer Neville Chamberlain, stationed in Ootacamund, Madras, and Jabalpur, devised a set of rules that combined black pool and pyramids. The word snooker was a well-established derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or first-year military personnel. In the early 20th century, snooker was predominantly played in the United Kingdom where it was considered a "gentleman's sport" until the early 1960s, before growing in popularity as a national pastime and eventually spreading overseas. The standard rules of the game were first established in 1919 when the Billiards Association and Control Club was formed. As a professional sport, snooker is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
The World Snooker Championship first took place in 1927. Joe Davis, a key figure and pioneer in the early growth of the sport, won fifteen successive world championships between 1927 and 1946. The "modern era" of snooker began in 1969 after the broadcaster BBC commissioned the television series Pot Black, later airing daily coverage of the World Championship, which was first televised in 1978. Key figures in the game were Ray Reardon in the 1970s, Steve Davis in the 1980s, and Stephen Hendry in the 1990s, each winning the World Championship at least six times. Since 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the most world titles.
Top professional players compete in regular tournaments around the world, earning millions of pounds on the World Snooker Tour, a circuit of international events featuring competitors of many different nationalities. The World Championship, the UK Championship, and the Masters together make up the Triple Crown Series, considered by many players to be the most highly valued titles. Although the main professional tour is open to women, female players also compete on a separate women's tour organised by World Women's Snooker. Competitive snooker is also available to non-professional players, including seniors and people with disabilities. The popularity of snooker has led to the creation of many variations based on the standard game, but using different rules or equipment, including six-red snooker, the short-lived "snooker plus", and the more recent Snooker Shoot Out version.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker]
Mnemonic
Snooker – Order to Pot Balls Mnemonic - RaY Gets Banned By Potting the Black
(Picture Ray Reardon who is a 5-time Snooker World Champion who gets dropped from the team after he potted the black first)
1. Red – 1 Point
2. Yellow – 2 Points
3. Green – 3 Points
4. Brown – 4 Points
5. Blue – 5 Points
6. Pink – 6 Points
7. Black– 7 Points
Five Fun Facts
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan holds the record for the fastest 147 maximum break of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, achieved in the 1997 World Championship.
Apparently, it took him years to get that big break! He must have been just, in the right frame of mind!
2. There have been ten World Championship televised maximum breaks with Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan responsible for six with three each.
3. Joe Davis from Derbyshire was the first World Champion in 1927 and won an incredible 15 successive world championships.
4. The youngest World Champion was Stephen Hendry in 1990 at age 21 years and 106 days.
5. And; Eddie Charlton from Australia holds the dubious record of the only person to be beaten 10-0 in a World Championship match in 1992.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. When the cue ball is potted, it is commonly referred to as what? Hint: Rhymes with matching
Q.2. Snooker originated in which country? and descended from which other game?
Q.3. Today’s balls are made of resin or plastics, but all early Snooker balls were made of what material?
Bonus Q. Stephen Hendry as mentioned was the youngest winner of a world championship in 1990 at age 21. How many more world championships did he win in the 90’s? Options are two, six or eight
Mnemonic Recap
Snooker – Order to Pot Balls Mnemonic - RaY Gets Banned By Potting the Black
(Picture Ray Reardon who is a 5-time Snooker World Champion who gets dropped from the team after he potted the black first)
1. Red – 1 Point
2. Yellow – 2 Points
3. Green – 3 Points
4. Brown – 4 Points
5. Blue – 5 Points
6. Pink – 6 Points
7. Black– 7 Points
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. When the cue ball is potted, it is commonly referred to as what? Hint: Rhymes with matching
A. Scratching
Q.2. Snooker originated in which country? and descended from which other game?
A. India. Croquet
Q.3. Today’s balls are made of resin or plastics, but all early Snooker balls were made of what material?
A. Ivory
Bonus. Stephen Hendry as mentioned was the youngest winner of a world championship in 1990 at age 21. How many more world championships did he win in the 90’s? Options are two, six or eight
A. 6. In 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999
Word of the Week
velleity
[ vuh-lee-i-tee ]
noun
a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.
Example
Becoming a champion Snooker player is no velleity.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
Website: https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mnemonic-tree-podcast/id1591795132
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3T0LdIJ9PBQMXM3cdKd42Q?si=WQ1SnHo5QgOawX-mxS6yUA
References
https://www.skysports.com/snooker/news/12244/8643571/world-snooker-facts
https://www.thefactsite.com/interesting-snooker-facts/
https://kids.kiddle.co/Snooker