Monday, August 3, 2009

Snooker Tournaments to Look Out For

By Norton Legg

No matter who you are, a casual spectator of snooker or a serious fan who appreciates the skill and effort that goes into Snooker, we have provided the list of tournaments where these masters can be found.

While you can find a game of snooker being played just about anywhere in the world, from pubs to area tournaments, which draw amateur as well as professional players, the following tournaments are really where its at for those major players.

Considered by all to be the most important and prestigious snooker tournament in the world, the Embassy World Championship which has been held since 1927 (except during the Second World War years of 1939 to 1945), in England. The tournament was held in 1977 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield where it remained for almost thirty years. This tournament and, indeed snooker itself, was dominated by Joe Davis, who won the tournament a record 15 times.

Joe Davis was then followed by his brother Fred, who continued the family reign, winning the tournament multiple times himself. However, it must be noted that between 1958-63, no tournament was held due to waning interest. Revived in 1964, the Embassy World Championship resumed its place as the preeminent tournament in the world. In 2009, it was announced that the Embassy World Championship would continue to reside at the Crucible until at least 2014.

The ranking tournaments follow on from the Embassy World Championship and are used to assign points which determine player rankings for seeding position at the major tournaments. Ranking tournaments are important because of the third tier of snooker tournaments, the Invitationals.

There are a considerable number of invitational tournaments, and only the best snooker players are invited. The Masters Tournament is considered to be the most prestigious of the invitational tournaments.

The Masters, first held in London in 1975, offers more prize money to the professional snooker player than any other tournament except for the Embassy World Championship. Only the best players are invited to exhibit their talents in this tournament.

Snooker is a game that requires a great amount of skill, patience and cunning, the best players of course being extremely talented. For a fan who appreciates these attributes, they only need to attend one of the tournaments that we have spoken about here today.

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