With almost 600,000 residents, Sheffield is one of the north of England's biggest cities. It was built upon steel and other metal industries - including the manufacture of fine cutlery. However, nowadays, in other parts of the country, people are more likely to say the word "snooker" when asked what Sheffield is famous for.
At this time of year and every year the World Championship Snooker Tournament is held in the city's "Crucible" theatre. In the space where plays and musicals happen during the rest of the year, you will see snooker tables and men with wooden cues potting snooker balls into pockets or sometimes failing to pot them.
It can be just as dramatic as the plays that are performed upon that stage.
Snooker evolved in British India in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was largely connected with another table top game called billiards that was also played by Army officers.
To play snooker you need a large heavy table with a flat surface over which a green baize cloth is tightly spread. The table, measuring twelve feet by six feet, has pockets in each corner as well as two further pockets at the sides. The purpose of these pockets is to catch coloured balls made from a heavy duty plastic resin - though in the past they were made from either clay or ivory.
There are fifteen red balls, and individual yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black balls. Also there's a white ball or cue ball - it is the only one that you are allowed to hit with a long, slender and wooden snooker cue.
As a spectator sport, snooker can be very absorbing and audiences are always hushed in The Crucible - only cheering or applauding after good shots are made. BBC television covers every game played over the two week period of the tournament.
The hotbed of the sport is The British Isles but snooker is also played in Canada, Australia, China and some other European countries. Last year's world champion was from Belgium but there have also been champions from Canada, Australia and Ireland. There have never been any American winners. However, currently one of the best players in England is called Trump - and I am not kidding! It is surprising that he hasn't yet applied for a name change. Judd Dung sounds infinitely better than Judd Trump.
Most years, the TV coverage just drifts past me but this year I have been watching a few games including today's quarter finals. The phenomenal Ronnie "The Rocket" O'Sullivan was knocked out by Stuart Bingham who won thirteen frames to Ronnie's ten frames. It was very tense. One small error and a frame can be lost.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/b83IGMt