Fact of the Week - 20/05/2024

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

more facts

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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