Snooker is a cue sport developed in the latter half of the 19th century by British Army officers stationed in India. It is played on a rectangular table covered with green colored baize. It has six pockets, one at each of the four corners and one in the middle of each long side. Using a cue and 21 colored balls, players need to strike the white ball (or "cue ball") to pot the colored balls in the correct order, acquiring points for each pot. An individual game, or frame, is won by the player who scores the highest number of points. A match is assumed won when a player wins a pre-decided number of frames.
In the year 1884 snooker earned its identity when army officer Sir Neville Chamberlain while stationed in Ooty, laid a set of rules combining pyramid and black pool. The word snooker was a commonly used military term for new or first-year personnel. The game gained popularity in the United Kingdom, and the Billiards Association and Control Club was formed in 1919. It is presently governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).