The game of snooker was first played in 1875 in which country?

The game of snooker was invented in 1875 in India by British army officers. It is generally credited to Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain (not the British Prime Minister of the same name), a young officer of the Devonshire Regiment, who devised the game at the officers' mess in Jabalpur (Jubbulpore), in present-day Madhya Pradesh.

How snooker began:

The officers used to play billiards and other games such as "black pool". Chamberlain added more coloured balls to make the game more interesting.

The name "snooker" came from slang for first-year cadets at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, who were called "snookers". When a fellow officer missed an easy shot, Chamberlain called him a "snooker", and the name stuck to the game.

The rules were later formalised at the Ooty Club in Ootacamund (Udhagamandalam), Tamil Nadu, in 1884, and the original rules are still displayed there.

The game was taken to England by players such as the professional billiards player John Roberts Jr.

How snooker is played:

It uses 15 red balls and 6 coloured balls: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). Each red is worth 1 point.

Players must pot a red, then a colour, alternately, until all the reds are potted, then the colours in order of value.

The maximum possible break is usually 147 (15 reds with 15 blacks, then all the colours).

The cue ball is white.

India and cue sports:

Pankaj Advani is India's greatest cue sports player. He has won many world titles in billiards and snooker, including the IBSF World Snooker Championship.

Wilson Jones won the World Amateur Billiards Championship in 1958, becoming India's first world champion in any sport after independence.

Michael Ferreira and Geet Sethi are also famous Indian billiards champions.

Why not the other options?

• ✗England is where snooker became popular as a professional sport, but it was invented in India.
• ✗Ireland and South Africa are not where snooker began.