Editing Snooker (section)

==Important players==
{{See also|List of World Snooker Championship winners|List of world number one snooker players|List of snooker players by number of ranking titles}}
<!-- Need guaranteed PD image [[File:Joe Davis.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white photograph of a man with Brylcreemed black hair, white shirt, black waistcoat, and black bow tie, holding a snooker cue in front of him; his autograph is visible in bottom right corner of photo|English player [[Joe Davis]], founder of the [[World Snooker Championship]], won 15 consecutive world titles between 1927 and 1946.]] -->
[[File:Joe Davis.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|alt=Photo of Joe Davis|[[Joe Davis]], founder of the [[World Snooker Championship]], won 15 consecutive world titles from 1927 to 1946.<ref name="Joe Davis" />]]

After the creation of the World Snooker Championship, snooker overtook billiards as the most popular cue sport in the United Kingdom.<ref name="hist_Hist" /> [[Joe Davis]] was the World Champion for twenty years, retiring unbeaten in the event after claiming his fifteenth world title in 1946 when the tournament was reinstated after the Second World War.<ref name="Joe Davis" /> During his entire professional career, Davis remained undefeated when playing on equal terms, although he did lose some matches in [[Handicapping|handicapped]] tournaments.<ref name="Joe Davis" /><ref name="2QWfZ" />{{sfn|Gadsby|Williams|2005|page=17}} He was only ever beaten on level terms by his younger brother [[Fred Davis (snooker player)|Fred Davis]], but not until after he had retired from professional play.<ref name="Joe Davis" />

By 1947, Fred Davis was deemed by his older brother ready to become World Champion,<ref name="Joe Davis" /> but he lost that year's world final to [[Walter Donaldson (snooker player)|Walter Donaldson]].<ref name="Western Daily Press" /><ref name="Mercury" /> Davis and Donaldson contested the next four world finals, with Davis winning three of the four.{{sfn|Morrison|1989|p=19}} With the abandonment of the World Championship in 1953 (after the boycott of the 1952 event by British professionals), the World Professional {{nowrap|Match-play}} Championship became the unofficial world championship.{{sfn|Gadsby|Williams|2005|page=47}} Fred Davis won the tournament every year from 1952 to 1956 but did not enter the 1957 event.<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk" /> [[John Pulman]] won in 1957 and was the most successful player of the 1960s, winning the world title seven times [[1964–68 World Snooker Championships|between April 1964 and March 1968]] while the World Championship was being contested at irregular intervals on a challenge basis.{{sfn|Hayton|Dee|2004|page=144}}<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk"/> Pulman's winning streak ended when the tournament reverted to a knockout format in 1968.<ref name="TIMES23NOV" /><ref name="SjlVi" /> [[Ray Reardon]] was the dominant force of the 1970s, winning six world titles (in 1970, 1973–1976, and 1978), and [[John Spencer (snooker player)|John Spencer]] won the world title three times (in 1969, 1971 and 1977).<ref name="Inside Snooker" /><ref name="Times_24Apr1976" />

{{multiple image |total_width=410
|image1=Wiki_stevedavis_upload.jpg 
|alt1=Photo of Steve Davis 
|caption1=[[Steve Davis]] won six world titles during the 1980s.<ref name="Davis6" />
|image2=Stephen Hendry PHC 2011.png 
|alt2=Photo of Stephen Hendry 
|caption2=[[Stephen Hendry]] won seven world titles during the 1990s.<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk" />
|image3=Stephen Maguire, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Michaela Tabb at German Masters Snooker Final (DerHexer) 2012-02-05 05 cropped.jpg 
|alt3=Photo of Ronnie O'Sullivan 
|caption3=[[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] has won seven world titles in the 21st century.<ref name="BBC RO worlds" />}}
<!--[[File:Wiki_stevedavis_upload.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Headshot of a man wearing an open-necked black shirt, not smiling or looking directly at camera|[[Steve Davis]] won the World Championship six times in the 1980s.<ref name="Davis6" />]]
[[File:Stephen Maguire, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Michaela Tabb at German Masters Snooker Final (DerHexer) 2012-02-05 05 cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Headshot of a dark-haired man smiling at the camera, with black shirt, black waistcoat, and black bow tie visible|[[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] has won seven world titles in the 21st century.<ref name="BBC RO worlds" />]] RETAINED ORIGINAL IMAGES -->
[[Steve Davis]] (no relation to Joe or Fred) won his first World Championship in 1981, becoming the 11th World Snooker Champion since 1927.<ref name="Times_21Apr1981" /><ref name="Times_07Apr1981" /> He won six world titles altogether (in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1987–1989) and competed in the {{nowrap|most-watched}} snooker match, the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, which he lost to Dennis Taylor.<ref name="dsoH1" /> [[Stephen Hendry]] became the 14th World Snooker Champion in 1990, aged 21&nbsp;years and 106&nbsp;days, the youngest player ever to have lifted the world title.<ref name="WST History of Snooker" /> He dominated the sport through the 1990s,{{sfn|McCann|2013|page=3}} winning the World Championship seven times (in 1990, 1992–1996, and 1999).<ref name="cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk" /><ref name="Global Snooker" />

[[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] has claimed the most world titles since 2000, having won the World Championship seven times (in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022).<ref name="BBC RO worlds" /> [[John Higgins]] and [[Mark Selby]] have both won four world titles (Higgins in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011; Selby in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021),<ref name="BBC JH worlds" /><ref name="BBC MS worlds" /> and [[Mark Williams (snooker player)|Mark Williams]] three (in 2000, 2003 and 2018).<ref name="BBC MW worlds" /><ref name="SN most worlds" /> O'Sullivan, Higgins and [[Judd Trump]] are the only players to have made over [[Century break#Players with 500 or more|1,000 career century breaks]].<ref name="SnookerInfo_CenturyBreaks" /> O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most maximum breaks compiled in professional competition, having achieved his 15th in October 2018.<ref name="Millennial Man" /> O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most ranking titles (41) and most Triple Crown titles (23) achieved in the sport.<ref name="wst.ros" />