Facts & Trivia

Some Snooker Trivia

Snooker balls have a diameter of 52.5mm

A full-size snooker table measures eleven feet, eight and a half inches by five feet ten inches

A snooker cue must not be less than three feet in length

Syd Lee was the first player ever to appear on television, he was 1933 World Champion

In 1990 Stephen Hendry became the World’s youngest champion at the age of 21 years and 106 days

When Ronnie O’Sullivan played Joe Swail in 2001 the shortest frame was 7 minutes and 32 seconds

The first World Championship maximum 147 break was by Cliff Thorburn in 1983

When Joe Davis became World Snooker Champion in 1927 the prize money was just over £6

The nickname of Steve Davis is The Nugget

Eddie Charlton carried the Olympic flag for Australia in the 1956 Olympics

Pot Black began in 1969

The first snooker TV sponsorship was from Super Crystalate in 1977

The first woman referee was Michaela Tabb in 2003

Ted Lowe gained an MBE for services to snooker in 1996. He died in 2004

Ronnie O’Sullivan completed a maximum 147 break in 5 minutes 20 seconds in the 1997 World Championship

Tom Dennis was the runner up 4 times in the first 5 World Championships, beaten each time by Joe Davis

The man who broke Joe Davis’s winning streak was Walter Donaldson of Scotland in 1947, beating Joe’s brother Fred in the final

Fred Davis won the World Championship the following two years running

Jimmy White’s middle name is Warren

James Wattana’s real name is Wattana Pu Orb Orm

The first United Kingdom Championship winner was Patsy Fagan of Ireland

The Scottish Open has been won by more non-Scottish players than Scottish

The first ladies World Champion was Vera Selby in 1976. She didn’t take up the game until she was 37

Allison Fisher became champion in 1985 and ruled supreme until 1994

William Cook was the first World Billiards Champion in 1870

John Higgins is known as The Wizard of Wishaw

When Joe Johnson became World Champion in 1986 he was rated as a 150-1 outside bet

Steve Davis used to be a supermarket shelf stacker

Silvino Francisco of South Africa was jailed in 1997 for smuggling dope

Len Ganley is known as the Ball Crusher after a TV advert

Stephen Hendry was awarded the MBE in 1994

John Spencer was known as Sniffer

Cliff Thorburn was the first ever non-British World Champion

John Pulman was born in Devon in 1926

Bill Werbeniuk drank 20 pints of lager per snooker session. He died in 2003

Ray Reardon was a coal miner and a policeman before turning professional

Walter Lindrum scored 4137 points in 2 hours 55 minutes in a billiards match against Joe Davis in 1937

Steve Davis made the first televised 147 break in the 1982 Lada Classic

Steve Davis loves soul music and has operated as a disc jockey on Essex Radio

Jimmy White was English Amateur champion before he was 17 years old

Dennis Taylor’s glasses were designed by Jack Karnehm

Barry Hearn became chairman of Leyton Orient Football Club

Tony Drago was born in Valletta, Malta

Stacey Hillyard was the first female to make a century break in competitive play

Kirk Stevens career collapsed in the mid-80’s due to his addiction to cocaine

Jimmy White never became World Champion

Touching The Blue is a play about snooker written by Joe Wenborne

Snooker was allegedly invented in India in 1875

Fred Davis was honoured with an OBE in 1977

Peter Ebdon and John Parrott both have a passion for racehorses

Alex Higgins was originally set to be a jockey

John Parrott won the Junior Pot Black title in 1985

Mark Williams was the only Welshman to win the Welsh Open in its first 10 years

Ronnie O’Sullivan can play both right and left handed

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s first title was the 1993 UK Championship

Silvino Francisco won the first British Open in 1985

James Wattana of Thailand won the inaugural Thailand Open title in 1995 but never won it again

Allison Fisher left snooker to become a top ranking Pool Champion in the United States

The Crucible, Sheffield is the only venue that splits the audience into two by a screen

Snooker, despite many attempts, has never achieved Olympic status

Fred Davis won more billiards titles than snooker titles

Stephen Hendry won the Benson & Hedges title five years in succession from 1989 to 1993

Mark Williams has become Thailand Open Champion a record 3 times

Alex Higgins never wore a bow tie for evening matches due to health reasons

Snooker originated as a middle class game for high ranking military men

Neville Chamberlain who developed snooker was not Neville Chamberlain the former Prime Minister

Mary Queen of Scots owned a snooker table

Billiards goes back to the 1300’s

Ken Doherty was the first to become both amateur and professional World Champion