snooker

Snooker (pronounced , ) 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 22 balls, comprising a white , 15 red balls and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black—collectively called . Using a snooker cue, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each committed by the opposing player or team. An individual of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points, and a snooker ends when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.

In 1875, army officer Neville Chamberlain, stationed in India, devised a set of rules that combined black pool and pyramids. The word snooker'' was a derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or 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.