Facts of the Week — Snooker Shorts

How do the world rankings look at the end of the season? Which players have some work to do as we enter the new season? Check out the latest Short post here!

Fact of the Week - 24/03/2025

Mark Williams beat World No. 1, 2 and 3 in Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Mark Allen when he won the Tour Championship in 2024

 

Fact No. 309 - 17/03/2025

The Players Championship was rebranded in 2017 and is contested by the Top 16 players on the one-year ranking list

Fact No. 308 - 10/03/2025

Mark Selby held the World No. 1 position for 1505 days; from February 9 2015 to March 24 2019


more facts

Fact No. 307 - 03/03/2025

Neil Robertson wins the 2025 World Grand Prix with a 10-0 victory over Stuart Bingham. This is Roberton's second whitewash in a ranking final

Fact No. 306 - 24/02/2025

John Higgins' victory at the 2025 World Open marks his first ranking event title since the Players Championship in 2021

Fact No. 305 - 17/02/2025

Stephen Maguire is a 3x UK Championship finalist (2004, 2007, 2019), and 3x Welsh Open finalist (2011, 2013, 2025)

Fact No. 304 - 10/02/2025

The Welsh Open, beginning in 1992, is the longest running ranking event after the World Championship and UK Championship

Fact No. 303 - 03/02/2025

From 1980 to 1991, the Welsh Professional Championship was open only to Welsh players; similar to the early days of the UK Championship

Fact No. 302 - 27/01/2025

Anthony Hamilton's first ranking title came at the German Masters in 2017, twenty six years into his professional career

Fact No. 301 - 20/01/2025

The WPBSA was originally founded as the PBPA in 1946 but was later revived & rebranded to the WPBSA in 1970

Fact No. 300 - 13/01/2025

Doug Mountjoy became the oldest winner of the UK Championship in 1988, where he defeated a 19 year old Stephen Hendry

Fact No. 299 - 06/01/2025

Between 2005-17, 9 out of 13 Masters tournaments were won by either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Mark Selby

Fact No. 298 - 30/12/2024

The 2004 Masters did not have any sponsorship due to the restrictions placed on tobacco advertising

Fact No. 297 - 23/12/2024

John Spencer won the first Masters event in 1975 against Ray Reardon in the deciding frame on a respotted black

Fact No. 296 - 16/12/2024

Steve Davis, Paul Hunter and Judd Trump are the only multiple time Masters winners to have not lost in a final (as of 2024)

Fact No. 295 - 09/12/2024

Gary Wilson is the third player to have won two of the four Home Nations events in a season; the Scottish and Welsh Open in 2023/24

Fact No. 294 - 02/12/2024

The Charity Challenge/Champions Cup ran for eight editions. It was won 3x by Stephen Hendry; 3x by John Higgins; and 2x by Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 293 - 25/11/2024

There was a non-ranking event in 1993 called the 'Nescafe Extra Challenge', involving four players and was won by a 17 year old Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 292 - 18/11/2024

Jason Ferguson reached the World Championship in 1992, 1996 and 1998. Ferguson was a Top 32 player and retired from professional play in 2004

Fact No. 291 - 11/11/2024

Tom Ford won his match against Steve Davis at the 2007 Grand Prix despite being admitted to hospital earlier that day due to stomach issues

Fact No. 290 - 04/11/2024

Tom Ford beat Steve Davis 4-0 in the 2007 Grand Prix. He won by scoring three century breaks, including a 147 in the third frame

Fact No. 289 - 28/10/2024

Zhang Anda's impressive 2023/24 season included 1x win, 2x finals and 3x quarter-final performances

Fact No. 288 - 21/10/2024

Bai Yulu is a former World Junior Champion, as well as the current World Women's Champion and U-21 World Champion

Fact No. 287 - 14/10/2024

Kyren Wilson was ranked No. 54 in the world when he won his first ranking title in 2015 at the Shanghai Masters

Fact No. 286 - 07/10/2024

Xiao Guodong's journey to his first ranking title at the 2024 Wuhan Open came with victories over Si Jiahui, Murphy, Hawkins & K. Wilson

Fact No. 285 - 23/09/2024

Since winning the World Championship in 2014, Mark Selby has a record of 20-4 in ranking event finals, most recently winning the British Open

Fact No. 284 - 23/09/2024

Judd Trump becomes the third player to achieve 1000 century breaks in competitive play, following Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins

Fact No. 283 - 16/09/2024

John Higgins becomes the second player to achieve 1000 century breaks in competitive play, surpassed only by Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 282 - 09/09/2024

Wu Yize is a 20 year old player that turned professional in 2021, and was WST 'Rookie of the Year' in 2022

Fact No. 281 - 02/09/2024

Judd Trump moves to fourth in the all-time ranking events winner list, surpassed only by John Higgins, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 280 - 26/08/2024

Jimmy White's victory at the 2004 Players Championship marked twelve years since his last ranking event triumph, defeating Paul Hunter 9-7

Fact No. 279 - 19/08/2024

Dennis Taylor lost the first eight frames of the famous 1985 World Championship final. Taylor went on to win the match 18-17 on the final black

Fact No. 278 - 12/08/2024

Mark Williams had a successful 1999/00 season with victories at the UK and World Championship, Thailand Masters and three other ranking finals

Fact No. 277 - 05/08/2024

The Snooker Hall of Fame was introduced in 2011 and its initial inductees included 8 multi-time world champions from the J. Davis to Hendry era

Fact No. 276 - 29/07/2024

Mark Selby won the Masters in 2008 on his debut attempt. This included three deciding frame matches to get to the final

Fact No. 275 - 22/07/2024

Stephen Hendry made 12 centuries in the 1994 UK Championship. He made 9 of these centuries in the final against Ken Doherty

Fact No. 274 - 15/07/2024

Ray Reardon was the first player to be ranked No. 1 after world rankings were introduced in 1976/77. He held this spot for the next five years

Fact No. 273 - 08/07/2024

The 2013 Shanghai Masters was the first ranking final contested by two Asian players: Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong. Ding won 10-6

Fact No. 272 - 01/07/2024

Tenball was a snooker/pool hybrid game that was broadcasted as a TV series in 1995, which included an additional ten-point black and yellow ball

Fact No. 271 - 24/06/2024

Mink Nutcharut won £6,000 for winning the 2022 World Women's Championship; and she won £30,000 in the Mixed Doubles with Neil Robertson

Fact No. 270 - 17/06/2024

When Michael White won the Indian Open in 2015 he scored 419 points against Ricky Walden who scored 27 points

Fact No. 269 - 10/06/2024

Ding Junhui reached the UK Championship final three times within five years (2019-23). He won the title in 2019

Fact No. 268 - 03/06/2024

John Spencer made a 147 at the 1979 Holsten Lager International however, the camera crew were on break so the maximum wasn't televised

Fact No. 267 - 27/05/2024

Martin O'Donnell had an impressive run beating Chris Wakelin, Anthony Hamilton, Marco Fu, Luca Brecel and Elliot Slessor to reach the Welsh Open final in 2024

Fact No. 266 - 20/05/2024

The World Seniors Championship began in 1991, but didn't resume until 2010. Jimmy White has won the event four times

Fact No. 265 - 13/05/2024

Jak Jones turned professional in 2010 when he was 16 years old. His World Championship performance pushed him to No. 14 in the rankings

Fact No. 264 - 06/05/2024

Kyren Wilson claims his sixth ranking title by winning the World Championship, as he becomes the tournaments twenty-eigth champion

Fact No. 263 - 29/04/2024

Paul Collier began his career in 1992 and refereed the World finals in 2004, 2016, 2021 and 2024

Fact No. 262 - 22/04/2024

Mark Selby's triumphs from 2013-17 include 3x World Championships, 1x Masters and 1 UK Championship. He was also runner-up at the Masters and UK

Fact No. 261 - 15/04/2024

Out of the 89 World Championships, 57 have been won by players from England. This is followed by Scotland (14); Wales (10); and Northern Ireland (3)

Fact No. 260 - 08/04/2024

After turning professional in 1992, Joe Perry would reach his first ranking final in 2001, where he would face Stephen Hendry

Fact No. 259 - 01/04/2024

Mark Williams has won the World Championship 3x; been World No. 1 3x; and was the third player to complete the Triple Crown in a single season

Fact No. 258 - 25/03/2024

When Neil Robertson was 17 years old, he reached the third qualifying round of the World Championship in 1999

Fact No. 257 - 18/03/2024

Judd Trump ties Steve Davis as the player with the fourth most ranking titles with 28. John Higgins is in third place with 31

Fact No. 256 - 11/03/2024

When Kyren Wilson won the Shanghai Masters in 2015, he became the lowest ranked player to win a ranking event since 2005

Fact No. 255 - 04/03/2024

Ronnie O'Sullivan's 4-0 victory over John Higgins at the 2024 World Masters of Snooker didn't involve a single ball being potted by his opponent

Fact No. 254 - 26/02/2024

Joe O'Connor makes snooker's 200th competitive 147 break at the Championship League. It's also the first maximum break of his career

Fact No. 253 - 19/02/2024

When Stephen Hendry beat John Higgins at the 2012 World Championship, it was his first victory over him in a ranking event since 2003

Fact No. 252 - 12/02/2024

Gary Wilson joins Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Tom Ford & Kyren Wilson as the only players to make five maximum breaks

Fact No. 251 - 05/02/2024

Ali Carter is a four time Triple Crown finalist (2x Worlds & 2x Masters). Carter faced Ronnie O'Sullivan on three of these occasions

Fact No. 250 - 29/01/2024

Si Jiahui moved from 80th to 36th in the world rankings following his semi-final performance at the 2023 World Championship

Fact No. 249 - 22/01/2024

Marco Fu's 147 break at the Hong Kong Masters was the seventh time a maximum was made in the deciding frame

Fact No. 248 - 15/01/2024

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the youngest winner of the Masters, as well as the oldest, with eight victories spanning from 1995 to 2024

Fact No. 247 - 08/01/2024

Mike Hallett made his Masters debut in 1988 where he reached the final, beating Dennis Taylor, Alex Higgins and John Parrott along the way

Fact No. 246 - 01/01/2024

Matthew Stevens won the Masters in 2000, UK Championship in 2003, and is a 2x World Championship finalist in 2000 & 2005

Fact No. 245 - 25/12/2023

Snooker Loopy' was a satirical song released in 1986 by Chas & Dave, featuring players like Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne and more

Fact No. 244 - 18/12/2023

When the world rankings were introduced in 1976/77, the World Championship was the only ranking event until 1982/83

Fact No. 243 - 11/12/2023

Anthony Hamilton won two back-to-back tournaments in Australia in 1995: The Australian Masters and Australian Open

Fact No. 242 - 04/12/2023

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the youngest winner of the UK Championship, as well as the oldest, with 8 victories spanning from 1993 to 2023

Fact No. 241 - 27/11/2023

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry have both contested 10 UK Championship finals. Davis has won 6 and Hendry has won 5

Fact No. 240 - 20/11/2023

Ronnie O'Sullivan is 7-1 at the World Championship; 7-1 at the UK Championship; and 7-6 at the Masters

Fact No. 239 - 13/11/2023

Peter Ebdon debuted at the World Championship in 1992, ending Steve Davis's nine-year streak of reaching at least the semi-finals of the championship

Fact No. 238 - 06/11/2023

Stephen Maguire was ranked No. 2 for the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons, where he reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship and Masters each year

Fact No. 237 - 30/10/2023

Judd Trump becomes the fifth player to win three ranking events in a row since Ding Junhui in 2013

Fact No. 236 - 23/10/2023

Shaun Murphy's first ranking title came when he won the World Championship in 2005. He was 22 years old

Fact No. 235 - 16/10/2023

Mink Nutcharut is the only female player known to achieve a maximum break, doing so in a practice match in 2019

Fact No. 234 - 09/10/2023

The 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus tournament included an extra orange and purple colour ball, allowing for a potential maximum break of 210

Fact No. 233 - 02/10/2023

When Mark Williams won the 2023 British Open he became the second oldest ranking event winner at age 48, behind Ray Reardon at age 50

Fact No. 232 - 25/09/2023

The first British Open in 1980 was contested through a series of round-robin matches with Alex Higgins winning the final 5-1

Fact No. 231 - 18/09/2023

Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the Shanghai Masters for the fourth year running, winning in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023

Fact No. 230 - 11/09/2023

The first Shanghai Masters tournament in 2007 saw an all Welsh final between Dominic Dale and Ryan Day

Fact No. 229 - 04/09/2023

Mark Selby is the only player to have been a World Champion in Snooker and Pool (World Eight-Ball 2006)

Fact No. 228 - 28/08/2023

Barry Hawkins secured his fourth ranking title at the European Masters, six years after his last win at the World Grand Prix in 2017

Fact No. 227 - 21/08/2023

Judd Trump won 6 ranking titles in 2019/20 and 5 ranking titles in the 2020/21 season

Fact No. 226 - 14/08/2023

Andrew Higginson beat the likes of Fu, Higgins, Maguire and Carter to reach the 2007 Welsh Open final. He also made a 147 along the way

Fact No. 225 - 07/08/2023

Joe Johnson and Shaun Murphy had odds of 150-1 to win their World Championships in 1986 and 2005

Fact No. 224 - 31/07/2023

James Wattana was runner-up at the British Open in 1992,93 & 94, losing to Jimmy White, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 223 - 24/07/2023

During the early World Snooker Championships, 'dead frames' would be played in order to increase revenue, even after the match had finished

Fact No. 222 - 17/07/2023

There have only been two 147s to win a final: Hendry in the 1997 Charity Challenge, and O'Sullivan in the 2014 Welsh Open

Fact No. 221 - 10/07/2023

Alex Higgins was the youngest World Champion at age 22 in 1972, before Stephen Hendry won in 1990

Fact No. 220 - 03/07/2023

Len Ganley, John Street and John Williams refereed 17 of the first 20 World Championship finals held at the Crucible

Fact No. 219 - 26/06/2023

Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Paul Hunter and Mark Selby have each won the Masters three times. This puts them at joint third all time

Fact No. 218 - 19/06/2023

Ronnie O'Sullivan has a 7-1 record in World finals; Stephen Hendry is 7-2; Steve Davis is 6-2; Mark Selby is 4-2; and John Higgins 4-4

Fact No. 217 - 12/06/2023

Mark Selby made six century breaks in his 13-4 victory over Stephen Hendry at the 2011 World Championship

Fact No. 216 - 05/06/2023

Stephen Maguire beat Neil Robertson, Judd Trump and Mark Allen to win the Tour Championship in 2020

Fact No. 215 - 29/05/2023

During the 2018/19 season, James Cahill defeated Mark Selby at the UK Championship and Ronnie O'Sullivan at the World Championship

Fact No. 214 - 22/05/2023

When John Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979, he was penalised two frames for late arrival to the third session

Fact No. 213 - 15/05/2023

The modern era of snooker was considered by some to begin in 1969 as the World Championship reverted back to a knockout format

Fact No. 212 - 08/05/2023

Si Jiahui became the youngest player at age 20 to reach the WSC semi-finals since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1996

Fact No. 211 - 01/05/2023

Luca Brecel is the first player from mainland Europe, and fourth non-UK player of the Crucible era to win the World Championship

Fact No. 210 - 24/04/2023

James Wattana is a 2-time World Championship semi-finalist in 1993 and 1997, losing out only to Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry

Fact No. 209 - 17/04/2023

The World Championship in 1993 reached a total prize fund of £1,000,000 for the first time, with the winner receiving £175,000

Fact No. 208 - 10/04/2023

The original World Championship trophy used in the first tournament in 1926 continues to be used to this day

Fact No. 207 - 03/04/2023

Stephen Hendry was only 21 years old when he won his first World Championship in 1990, beating Jimmy White 18-12

Fact No. 206 - 27/03/2023

Not including the Snooker Shootout, Mark Selby still hasn’t lost a ranking final since 2016

Fact No. 205 - 20/03/2023

Judd Trump has become the third, and youngest player to reach over 900 centuries in competitive play

Fact No. 204 - 13/03/2023

Tony Drago was a Top 32 player for 18 consecutive seasons, between 1987/88 to 2004/05

Fact No. 203 - 06/03/2023

Ronnie O'Sullivan won Premier League Snooker 10 times before it turned into the Champion of Champions, which he has won 4 times

Fact No. 202 - 27/02/2023

The first set of rules for snooker was established in 1919 when the Billiards Association and Billiards Control Club formed together

Fact No. 201 - 20/02/2023

Ng On-yee ended Reanne Evans's 10-year World Championship win streak when she won the title in 2015. On-yee also won in 2017 and 2018

Fact No. 200 - 13/02/2023

There were only six centuries made at the World Championship in 1977, compared with 109 made in 2022

Fact No. 199 - 06/02/2023

Ali Carter has reached the German Masters final three times, winning it on two occasions in 2013 and 2023

Fact No. 198 - 30/01/2023

Martin Gould has made three centuries at the Snooker Shootout event, more than any other player

Fact No. 197 - 23/01/2023

Reanne Evans has won the Women's World Championship 12 times, UK Championship 11 times, and Masters 10 times

Fact No. 196 - 16/01/2023

Snooker balls used to be made from a synthetic plastic material which would occasionally result in them exploding on impact

Fact No. 195 - 09/01/2023

The Wembley Conference Centre was home to the Masters from 1979 to 2006, before moving to Wembley Arena then to Alexandra Palace

Fact No. 194 - 02/01/2023

John Spencer was the first winner of the Masters in 1975 and World Championship at the Crucible in 1977

Fact No. 193 - 26/12/2022

John Spencer was the first winner of the Masters in 1975 and World Championship at the Crucible in 1977

Fact No. 192 - 19/12/2022

John Higgins has been a resident of the Top 16 since the 1995/96 season. Out of 27 seasons, he has spent 23 in the Top 8

Fact No. 191 - 12/12/2022

Fred Davis, who won the World Championship in 1948, once played against Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1992 at the Grand Prix qualifiers

Fact No. 190 - 05/12/2022

Gary Wilson has made four maximum breaks during his career so far; the most recent occuring at the 2021 UK Championship

Fact No. 189 - 28/11/2022

Stuart Bingham turned professional in 1995 but didn't win his first ranking event until 2011 at the Australian Goldfields Open

Fact No. 188 - 21/11/2022

Ding Junhui became the first person outside the UK to win the UK Championship back in 2005 where he defeated Steve Davis

Fact No. 187 - 14/11/2022

The UK Championship began in 1977 and was a non-ranking event until granted ranking status in 1984

Fact No. 186 - 07/11/2022

The first Champion of Champions event dates back to 1978 and was contested by only four participants (Reardon, Higgins, Fagan & Mountjoy)

Fact No. 185 - 31/10/2022

The prize for winning the first Crucible final in 1977 was £6,000. The winning prize sum has been £500,000 since 2019

Fact No. 184 - 24/10/2022

Judd Trump has a winning head-to-head record over all players in the Top 16 except John Higgins and Mark Allen

Fact No. 183 - 17/10/2022

Out of the 395 ranking events played until now, 199 (50%) have been won by players in England

Fact No. 182 - 10/10/2022

Marco Fu has won three gold and three silver medals between 1998 and 2010 at the Asian & East Asian Games

Fact No. 181 - 03/10/2022

John Higgins was three out of five at the World Championships from 2007 to 2011. Was this his peak?

Fact No. 180 - 26/09/2022

Steve Davis and Tony Meo won four of the six World Doubles tournaments held throughout the 1980s

Fact No. 179 - 19/09/2022

The 2022 World Championship final reached a peak viewing figure of 4.5 millions viewers, its highest since 2014

Fact No. 178 - 12/09/2022

Jack Lisowski's ranking final history involves 3 matches against Judd Trump, 2 against Neil Robertson and 1 against Mark Selby

Fact No. 177 - 05/09/2022

Fergal O'Brien won the British Open in 1999 and was runner-up at the 2001 Masters

Fact No. 176 - 29/08/2022

Since the world rankings were introduced, the No. 1 position has only been held by 11 individuals

Fact No. 175 - 22/08/2022

Barry Hawkins won his first ranking title in 2012 at the Australian Goldfields Open with a final victory over Peter Ebdon

Fact No. 174 - 15/08/2022

Mark Selby has had six maximum breaks made against him, more than any other player

Fact No. 173 - 08/08/2022

There have only been two whitewashes at the World Championship - achieved by John Parrott in 1992 and Shaun Murphy in 2019

Fact No. 172 - 01/08/2022

Judd Trump earned £1,094,000 during the 2018/19 season. He is the only player to earn over £1m during a single season

Fact No. 171 - 25/07/2022

Out of the 27 editions of Premier League Snooker, 20 of them were won by Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 170 - 18/07/2022

Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan are the only players to have made more than one maximum break at The Crucible (3x each)

Fact No. 169 - 11/07/2022

The World Championship was the only ranking event in the calendar until the International Open in 1982, which was won by Tony Knowles

Fact No. 168 - 04/07/2022

Scott Donaldson won the Championship League in 2020, overcoming a final group that included Trump, Robertson, McGill, Dott, Bingham & G. Wilson

Fact No. 167 - 27/06/2022

'The Classic' was an event that ran from 1980 to 1992. It was won by Steve Davis six times and included the first televised 147

Fact No. 166 - 20/06/2022

Winning the Welsh Open made Joe Perry the second oldest player (at 47) to win a ranking title since Ray Reardon in 1982

Fact No. 165 - 13/06/2022

Peter Ebdon has reached 3 World and 2 UK finals. He faced Stephen Hendry on four occasions. The record is 2-2

Fact No. 164 - 06/06/2022

Ding Junhui was only 18 years old when he won his first ranking title at the 2005 China Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9-5

Fact No. 163 - 30/05/2022

Terry Griffiths reached the final of the Masters four times within five years (1980-84)

Fact No. 162 - 23/05/2022

Steve Davis is a six-time UK Championship winner. This included four successive triumphs from 1984-87

Fact No. 161 - 16/05/2022

Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan have collectively won 8 of the last 11 World Championships

Fact No. 160 - 09/05/2022

Due to a dispute between governing bodies, there were two World Championships held in 1952

Fact No. 159 - 02/05/2022

Due to a dispute between governing bodies, there were two World Championships held in 1952

Fact No. 158 - 25/04/2022

Mark Selby and Yan Bingtao contested the longest frame at the Crucible at 1 hr 25 mins 22 secs

Fact No. 157 - 18/04/2022

When Terry Griffiths won the World Championship in 1979, this was only his second tournament as a professional

Fact No. 156 - 11/04/2022

There was no World Snooker Championship between 1958-1963 due to a decline in popularity of the game

Fact No. 155 - 04/04/2022

Stephen Maguire didn't qualify for the Tour Championship when he won in 2020 against Mark Allen

Fact No. 154 - 28/03/2022

The 1952 World Championship contested only two players: Horace Lindrum and Clark McConachy. The final score was 94-49

Fact No. 153 - 21/03/2022

Nigel Bond had a World Championship run between 1993-96 which consisted of 2x quarter-finals, 1 semi-final and 1 final in 1995

Fact No. 152 - 14/03/2022

Due to name changes and sponsorships, the Scottish Open was formerly known as the International Open, Matchroom Trophy and Players Championship

Fact No. 151 - 07/03/2022

Martin Gould beat Judd Trump, Stuart Bingham, Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan to win Power Snooker in 2011

Fact No. 150 - 28/02/2022

Shaun Murphy was ranked No. 48 in the world when he won the World Championship in 2005

Fact No. 149 - 21/02/2022

The 2021 World Championship saw the most century breaks made with 108, surpassing the 100 achieved in 2019 (and 86 in 2016)

Fact No. 148 - 14/02/2022

Stephen Hendry has spent a total of 471 weeks as World No. 1 throughout his entire career

Fact No. 147 - 07/02/2022

Steve Davis has made one maximum break; and it was the first televised 147 at the 1982 Lada Classic

Fact No. 146 - 31/01/2022

Pot Black was originally created in 1969 by David Attenborough as a series to take advantage of broadcasting television in colour

Fact No. 145 - 24/01/2022

Jan Verhaas qualified as a professional referee in 1990 and was the first man outside the UK to referee a World Final in 2003

Fact No. 144 - 17/01/2022

Cliff Thorburn has won the Masters on three occasions (1983, 1985, 1986). He was also runner-up in 1978

Fact No. 143 - 10/01/2022

Mark Allen won the Irish U16, U18 and U19 titles in 2002, all over one weekend

Fact No. 142 - 03/01/2022

Steve Davis only lost 23 frames throughout the entire 1989 World Championship

Fact No. 141 - 27/12/2021

Ng On-yee is a three-time IBSF World Champion and World Women's Champion

Fact No. 140 - 20/12/2021

Stephen Maguire has a record at the UK Championship that includes 1 win, 2 finals, 4 semi-finals and 4 quarter-finals

Fact No. 139 - 13/12/2021

Luca Brecel initially gained his place on the Main Tour via a wildcard in 2011/12 and has earned his place ever since

Fact No. 138 - 06/12/2021

Zhao Xintong turned professional at 19 years old and has achieved an impressive Top 32 ranking by reaching the Last 16 of various tournaments

Fact No. 137 - 29/11/2021

According to Wikipedia, Peter Ebdon is a 'retired English professional snooker player and conspiracy theorist'

Fact No. 136 - 22/11/2021

Walter Donaldson contested the World Championship final on eight occasions, all against Fred Davies. He won in 1947 and 1950

Fact No. 135 - 15/11/2021

Matthew Stevens reached the final of all three Triple Crown events in the 1999/00 season

Fact No. 134 - 08/11/2021

Marcel Eckardt became the youngest person to referee a ranking final at age 25 during the 2015 German Masters

Fact No. 133 - 01/11/2021

Maximum breaks per decade: 1980s - 8; 1990s - 26; 2000s - 35; 2010s - 86

Fact No. 132 - 25/10/2021

Power Snooker was a short-lived game type in 2010-11 which involved continuous re-racking and players competing for most points

Fact No. 131 - 18/10/2021

Mark King played 12 consecutive foul shots during the 1997 Masters. John Higgins would equal this against King in the 2006 GP

Fact No. 130 - 11/10/2021

Ronnie O'Sullivan took 1 hr 48 mins to win his first round match of the 2020 World Championship. This beat the previous record by 41 minutes

Fact No. 129 - 04/10/2021

Steve Davis has played a total of 1453 professional matches over the course of his career (1978-2016)

Fact No. 128 - 27/09/2021

The first snooker computer game was called 'Snooker' and was released in 1983 on cassette tapes and floppy discs

Fact No. 127 - 20/09/2021

In the first 34 years of the rankings being introduced, only 7 players held the number one position

Fact No. 126 - 13/09/2021

Liang Wenbo has won two gold medals and a silver at the Asian games; a continental event held every four years throughout Asia

Fact No. 125 - 06/09/2021

Stephen Lee is a five-time ranking event winner and has achieved a career high rank of 5. He was in the Top 16 for 11 consecutive seasons

Fact No. 124 - 30/08/2021

The first officially recognised 147 was achieved by Joe Davis during an exhibition match in 1955

Fact No. 123 - 23/08/2021

Stephen Hendry was the only player to have made 50+ centuries in a single season. This record held from the mid-90's until 2010/11 where it was surpassed by Mark Selby

Fact No. 122 - 16/08/2021

Stacey Hillyard was the first female to record a century break during competition in 1985. She was just 15 years old

Fact No. 121 - 09/08/2021

Only three players have made more than 10 maximum breaks: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins

Fact No. 120 - 02/08/2021

Paul Hunter won the Masters three times in four years (2001-04). He won each final 10-9

Fact No. 119 - 26/07/2021

Before the Masters was held in Alexandra Palace, the invitational event took place in Wembley for over twenty years

Fact No. 118 - 19/07/2021

Joe Johnson's only ranking triumph came when he won the World Championship in 1986. He has been runner-up two other times

Fact No. 117 - 12/07/2021

Since, and including his first World Championship win, Mark Selby has won 17 out of the 19 ranking finals he has competed in

Fact No. 116 - 05/07/2021

John Higgins made 14 century breaks on his way to win his first World Championship in 1998

Fact No. 115 - 28/06/2021

The highest break achieved in the 1977 and 1978 Masters was 88, achieved by Doug Mountjoy and Cliff Thorburn

Fact No. 114 - 21/06/2021

Joe Swail reached the World Championship semi-finals in 2000 and 2001, losing out to Matthew Stevens and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Fact No. 113 - 14/06/2021

Snooker originated by combining two former variants of billiards: black pool and pyramid pool

Fact No. 112 - 07/06/2021

Judd Trump played 15,798 shots in the 2020/21 season

Fact No. 111 - 31/05/2021

Peter Ebdon, known for his slow play, won his first ranking title at the Grand Prix in 1993

Fact No. 110 - 24/05/2021

John Parrott reached the Masters final three times. Unfortunately, he lost to Hendry each time

Fact No. 109 - 17/05/2021

The Australian Masters turned into the Hong Kong Open in 1989 due to sponsorhip reasons, which was the first ranking event in Asia

Fact No. 108 - 10/05/2021

Mark Williams is only the third and most recent player to have won all Triple Crowns in the same season (2002/03)

Fact No. 107 - 03/05/2021

Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy have been in three ranking finals, with Selby winning two of them. Who wins the Worlds?

Fact No. 106 - 26/04/2021

Yan Bingtao is the third Chinese player to win a ranking event (following Ding and Wenbo)

Fact No. 105 - 19/04/2021

The Crucible was chosen as the World Championship venue when Mike Watterson's wife, Carole, went to watch a play at the arena

Fact No. 104 - 12/04/2021

Alan McManus won the Dubai Classic in 1994 and Thailand Open in 1996. And of course, the Masters in 1994

Fact No. 103 - 05/04/2021

Jack Lisowski was runner-up in Junior Pot Black in 2007

Fact No. 102 - 29/03/2021

Ken Doherty was the third person outside the UK to win the World Championship, after Horace Lindrum and Cliff Thorburn

Fact No. 101 - 22/03/2021

Marco Fu's first ranking final took place in the 1998 Grand Prix. He was runner-up but won his first ranking title 9 years later at the 2007 Grand Prix

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