Snooker The sport has become increasingly popular in China. The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the 19th century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India and several variations of the game were devised during this time. One such variation originated at the officers' mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, pyramid and life pool. The former was played with fifteen red balls and one black positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured
Six-red snooker feature shorter frames, due to fewer red balls. Other formats are being considered as well. It was hoped that the format would revive the popularity of snooker as a spectator sport, in the same way Twenty20 has done to cricket. Jimmy White said that six-red snooker could be one way of helping boost the game's popularity. Ali Carter also said he would be interested in playing the format. The first international tournament in this format was contested in July 2008, with Ricky Walden defeating Stuart Bingham in the final. A six-red tournament was held during the 2009 World Snooker Championship