Snooker in History

Events in Sport

Sports History

2014-05-05 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Briton Mark Selby beats countryman Ronnie O'Sullivan 18-14, the first of 3 world titles

2015-05-04 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Stuart Bingham beats fellow Englishman Shaun Murphy, 18-15 for his lone world title
2016-05-02 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Mark Selby of England beats China's Ding Junhui, 18-14 for his second world crown
2017-05-01 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Mark Selby defends title beating John Higgins of Scotland, 18-15; his third world crown
2018-05-07 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Welshman Mark Williams beats John Higgins of Scotland, 18-16; as promised, does his press conference in the nude
2019-05-06 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Judd Trump wins his first world crown beating John Higgins of Scotland, 18-9
2020-08-16 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan wins his 6th world title with an 18-8 win over countryman Kyren Wilson
2021-05-03 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Mark Selby wins his 4th world title with an 18-15 win over countryman Shaun Murphy
2022-05-02 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan wins his record equalling 7th world title with an 18-13 win over countryman Judd Trump

Birthdays in Sport

1900-08-20 Murt [Edward James] O'Donoghue, New Zealand snooker player (1st witnessed 147 break), born in Te Aroha, New Zealand (d. 1994)
1901-04-15 Joe Davis, English snooker player (World Champion 1927-40, 1946), born in Whitwell, Derbyshire (d. 1978)
1908-05-27 Alec Brown, English snooker player (Daily Mail Gold Cup 1939, 40; News of the World 1951), born in London (d. 1995)
1912-01-15 Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker and billiards player (World Snooker C'ship 1936, 37, 46 runner-up), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1974)
1913-08-14 Fred Davis, English snooker player (World C'ship 1948-49, 51), born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (d. 1998)
1920-11-01 Ted Lowe, English snooker commentator (Pot Black, BBC), born in Lambourn, England (d. 2011)
1923-12-12 John Pulman, English snooker player (World Champion 1957-68; News of the World Snooker Tournament 1954, 57, 58), born in Teignmouth, England (d. 1998)
1929-10-31 Eddie Charlton, Australian snooker player (World #3 1976-81; Pot Black 1972, 73, 80), born in Merewether, Australia (d. 2004)
1932-10-08 Ray Reardon, Welsh snooker player, born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales
1934-05-10 Cliff Wilson, snooker player
1935-01-03 David Vine, British sports broadcaster (BBC Match of the Day, World Snooker C'ships, Olympics coverage), born in Newton Abbot, England (d. 2009)
1940-10-25 Perrie Mans, South African snooker player (Benson & Hedges Masters 1979; World C'ship 1978 runner-up; South African Pro C'ship x 20), born in Lichtenburg, South Africa (d. 2023)
1941-05-11 Graham Miles, English snooker player (World C'ship 1974 runner-up; Pot Black 1974, 75), born in Birmingham, England (d. 2014)
1942-06-08 Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player (Masters 1977; Pot Black 1978, 85; UK C'ship 1988, World C'ship 1981 runner-up), born in Gelligaer, Wales (d. 2021)
1946-03-03 John Virgo, British snooker player
1947-01-14 Bill Weberniuk, Canadian snookers player, born in Winnipeg, Canada (d. 2003)

1948-01-16 Cliff Thorburn, Canadian champion snooker player, born in Victoria, British Columbia
1949-01-19 Dennis Taylor, British professional snooker player and snooker commentator (1985 World Championship), born in Coalisland, United Kingdom
1949-03-18 Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, Irish snooker player (2x world-champ), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 2010)
1952-07-29 Joe Johnson, English snooker player (World Champion, 1986: Senior Masters, 2019), born in Bradford, West Yorkshire
1954-03-04 Willie Thorne, English snooker player (1985 Classic), born in Leicester, England (d. 2020)
1957-08-22 Steve Davis, English snooker player (6 x World C'ship; 15 x Triple Crown titles, born in London, England
1959-10-04 Tony Meo, English snooker player (British Open 1989; English Pro C’ship 1986-87), born in London, England
1960-07-25 Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player, born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
1962-05-02 Jimmy White, English professional snooker player, born in Tooting, England
1964-05-11 John Parrott, British snooker player, born in Liverpool, England
1966-04-07 Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
1966-05-03 Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player, born in Newport, Wales
1966-10-05 Jan Verhaas, Dutch snooker referee
1969-01-13 Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player (record 7 World Championships), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
1969-08-29 Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland

1969-09-17 Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player (world champion 1997), born in Dublin, Rep. of Ireland
1969-10-06 Troy Shaw, English snooker player
1970-01-17 James Wattana, Thai snooker player, born in Bangkok, Thailand
1970-08-27 Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
1971-01-21 Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
1973-09-26 Chris Small, Scottish snooker player, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
1974-03-28 Mark King, English snooker player
1974-10-12 Stephen Lee, English snooker player, born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire
1975-03-21 Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player (World C'ship 2000, 03, 18; Triple Crown 2002-03), born in Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, Wales
1975-05-18 John Higgins, Scottish snooker player (4-time world champion), born in Wishaw, Scotland
1975-08-13 Joe Perry, English snooker player, born in Wisbech, England

Ronnie O'Sullivan (48 years old)

1975-12-05 British snooker player (7 x world champion; 7 x Masters champion; 7 x UK champion), born in Wordsley, England

1977-05-12 Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player (World C'ship 2006; world #2 2007-08), born in Larkhall, Scotland
1977-06-04 Quinten Hann, Australian former snooker player
1977-09-11 Matthew Stevens, Welsh snooker player, born in Carmarthen, Wales
1978-10-14 Paul Hunter, English snooker player (Masters 2001, 02, 04), born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2006)
1979-02-09 "Casper" David Gray, English snooker player (2003 Scottish Open Winner), born in Lower Morden, Greater London
1979-07-25 Ali Carter, English professional snooker player, born in Colchester, Essex
1981-03-13 Stephen Maguire, Scottish snooker player, born in Glasgow, Scotland
1982-02-11 Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player (2010 world champion), born in Melbourne, Australia
1983-06-19 Mark Selby, British snooker player (world champion 2014, 16-17, 21), born in Leicester, England
1983-12-08 Liu Song, Chinese snooker player, born in Beijing, China
1987-04-01 Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player (Masters 2011; Shanghai Masters 2013, 16; UK C'ships 2005, 09, 19), born in Yixing, Jiangsu, China
1989-08-20 Judd Trump, British snooker player (World C'ship 2019; UK C'ship 2011; Masters 2019), born in Bristol, England

Deaths in Sport

1974-06-20 Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker and billiards player (World Snooker C'ship 1936, 37, 46 runner-up), dies at 62
1978-07-10 Joe Davis, English snooker player (World Champion 1927-40, 1946), dies at 77
1980-04-12 Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards player (World Professional C'ships 1951), dies at 84
1994-03-13 Murt [Edward James] O'Donoghue, New Zealand snooker player (1st witnessed 147 break), dies at 93
1994-05-21 Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player, dies at 60
1995-09-03 Alec Brown, English snooker player (Daily Mail Gold Cup 1939, 40; News of the World 1951), dies at 87
1998-04-16 Fred Davis, English 8-time World Snooker Champion (1948-49, 51), dies at 84
1998-12-25 John Pulman, English snooker player (World Champion 1957-68; News of the World Snooker Tournament 1954, 57, 58), dies after a fall at 75
2003-01-20 Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
2004-11-08 Eddie Charlton, Australian snooker player (World #3 1976-81; Pot Black 1972, 73, 80), dies at 75
2006-07-11 John Spencer, English snooker player (b. 1935)
2006-10-09 Paul Hunter, English snooker player (Masters 2001, 02, 04), dies from neuroendocrine tumours at 27
2009-01-11 David Vine, British sports broadcaster (BBC Match of the Day, World Snooker C'ships, Olympics coverage), dies of a heart attack at 74
2010-07-24 Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player (b. 1949)
2011-05-01 Ted Lowe, English snooker commentator (Pot Black, BBC), dies at 90
2014-10-12 Graham Miles, English snooker player (World C'ship 1974 runner-up; Pot Black 1974, 75), dies at 73
2020-06-17 Willie Thorne, English snooker player (1985 Classic), dies of leukemia at 66
2021-02-14 Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player (Masters 1977; Pot Black 1978, 85; UK C'ship 1988, World C'ship 1981 runner-up), dies at 78
2023-09-13 Perrie Mans, South African snooker player (Benson & Hedges Masters 1979; World C'ship 1978 runner-up; South African Pro C'ship x 20), dies at 82