History of snooker History of snooker The game of snooker is a cue sport which emerged in its modern form in the late 19th century, with roots going back to the 16th century form of English billiards. Billiards was popular among the British Armed Forces stationed in India. As billiards was only a two player game, new games such as life pool and pyramid pool were developed in order to accommodate more players. Eventually, these two games were combined to form snooker. Billiards was first played in the 16th century. It was known as a "gentleman's game" because of its popularity among royalty.
Paul Collier (snooker referee) Paul Collier (snooker referee) Paul Collier (born 30 July 1970 in Newport, Wales) is a Welsh snooker referee who has overseen two World Snooker Championship finals. Born in Newport, Wales, Collier began refereeing on the professional snooker circuit in 1992. In 2004 he took charge of the World Snooker Championship final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Graeme Dott where he also became the youngest referee to take charge of a world championship final. He has been playing snooker since he was thirteen years old and became a qualified referee at fifteen. In December 1991, he became the youngest member of the