Editing Snooker (section)

====Tournaments====
{{See also|List of snooker tournaments}}
The oldest current professional snooker tournament is the [[World Snooker Championship]],<ref name="BBCWSN1" /> which has taken place as an annual event most years since 1927.<ref name="World Snooker list" /><ref name="vDR55" /> Hosted at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield since 1977,<ref name="World Snooker list" /> the championship was sponsored by tobacco company Embassy from 1976 to 2005<ref name="GuardianSponsor" /> and has since been sponsored by various betting companies after the introduction of an {{nowrap|EU-wide}} ban on the advertising of tobacco products.<ref name="BBC 4732047" /><ref name="Np1Uq" /><ref name="sbcn_Betf" /> The World Championship is the most highly valued title in professional snooker,<ref name="wcvalue" /> in terms of financial reward (the tournament has carried a £500,000 winner's prize since 2019), ranking points and prestige.<ref name="wcprizemoney" /><ref name="earnings_and_era_dominance" /> 

The [[UK Championship]], held annually since 1977, is considered to be the second most important ranking tournament after the World Championship.<ref name="WST_UKchamp" /> These two events, and the annual {{nowrap|non-ranking}} [[Masters (snooker)|Masters]] tournament, make up snooker's [[Triple Crown (snooker)|Triple Crown]] Series;<ref name="dottmasters" /><ref name="TC winners" /> among the oldest competitions on the professional circuit, the Triple Crown events are valued by many players as the most prestigious.<ref name="TC winners" /> {{As of|2024|04}}, only eleven players have won all three events,<ref name="SN Triple Crown" /> the most recent being [[Judd Trump]] who completed the Triple Crown in May 2019.<ref name="BBC20190506" /> The Triple Crown events are televised in the UK by the BBC,<ref name="bbc_deal2022" /><ref name="bbc_deal2024" /><ref name="bbc_deal2027" /> while most other tournaments are broadcast across Europe on the [[Eurosport]] network,<ref name="eurosport_deal2016" /> or [[ITV Sport]],<ref name="SportsPro Media" /> as well as numerous other broadcasters internationally.<ref name=wst_broadcasters22 /><ref name="wst_WatchLive" />

After facing some criticism for matches taking too long,<ref name="GuardianDull" /> Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn introduced a series of timed tournaments: the {{nowrap|shot-timed}} [[Premier League Snooker]], held between 1987 and 2012, featured seven players invited to compete at regular United Kingdom venues and was televised on [[Sky Sports]].<ref name="earnings_and_era_dominance" /> The players had 25 seconds to take each shot, with each player allowed five {{nowrap|time-outs}} per match. The format did achieve some success but was not afforded the same amount of press attention or status as the regular ranking tournaments.<ref name="GuardianDull" /> The event was removed from the professional tour after the 2012–13 season, when the [[Champion of Champions (snooker)|Champion of Champions]] was {{nowrap|re-established}};<ref name="en.e_O'Su" /> players qualify for this tournament by virtue of winning other events in the season, with sixteen champions competing.<ref name="cham_Cham" />{{efn|Under certain circumstances, some runners-up participate at the Champion of Champions.<ref name="cham_Cham" />}}

Classified as a "precision sport" by the [[International Olympic Committee]], snooker has never been contested at the [[Summer Olympics]].<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /><ref name="sky.history" />{{efn|Snooker was contested at the [[Paralympic Games]] from 1960 until 1988.<ref name="wdbs_Olympics" />}} In 2015, the WPBSA submitted a bid for snooker to be included at the [[2020 Tokyo Olympics]],<ref name="Snookerolympic" /> but without success.<ref name="eN1gH" /> Since its launch in October 2017, the [[World Snooker Federation]] (WSF) has been advocating for snooker to be added to the Olympic and Paralympic programme.<ref name="itg_wsf" /><ref name="wsf" /> Their initial bid for the [[2024 Paris Olympics]] was unsuccessful,<ref name="KpBpW" /><ref name="T9wCo" /> but the WSF is campaigning for snooker to be included at the [[2032 Brisbane Olympics]].<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /> Olympic status would create a significant public funding opportunity for the sport and boost its global exposure.<ref name="telegraph_olympics" /> A trial of the format for [[cue sports]] to be played at the 2024 Games was conducted at the [[2019 World Team Trophy (cue sports)|2019 World Team Trophy]], which also featured [[Nine-ball|{{nowrap|nine-ball}}]] and [[carom billiards]].<ref name="azbi_Inau" /> Snooker has been contested at the [[World Games]] since [[Cue sports at the 2001 World Games|2001]] and was included as an event at the [[Snooker at the 2019 African Games|2019 African Games]].<ref name="jtHKc" /><ref name="eN7hQ" /><ref name="pHlSh" />