Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green or other coloured baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. The (baize) cloth on a snooker table has a directional nap running from the balk end of the table towards the end with the (black ball) spot. This affects how a ball rolls depending on which direction it is hit or shot.
A regular (full-size) table is 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m). It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white, 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different : yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). A player (or team) wins a (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to the red and coloured balls. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won. Snooker, generally regarded as having been invented in India by British Army officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries, with top professional players attaining multi-million pound career earnings from the game. The sport is now increasingly popular in China.
