The top snooker players in the world challenge for several trophies every year, but one carries more prestige than all the others put together - the World Championship. This is the piece of the silverware they all dream of when first picking up a cue, the one they must win to be considered a true great of the game. You're nothing in the snooker world unless you can produce your best under the most extreme pressure - the evening session of the final at the Crucible Theatre every May. No other tournament in the sport carries with it so much history, so many golden moments of spectacular success and dramatic failure. Meticulously researched and including exclusive interview material with Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry among others, Masters of the Baize is a comprehensive guide to the men who have lifted the greatest prize in snooker, from the legendary Joe Davis, the first champion in 1927, to modern-day masters like Mark Williams. Forgotten figures such as Walter Donaldson and John Pulman, and rogue heroes like Alex Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are all put under the microscope, and their colourful lives, both on and off the table, brought vividly to life. After uncovering the inauspicious origins of the game in nineteenth-century India, every former world champion is examined in their own comprehensive chapter. Additionally, a special section focuses on the extraordinary popularity of Jimmy White, by far the greatest player never to have won the title and one of the most emotive names in the sport. The authors also discuss the issue of who was the greatest cueman ever and present their top ten players of all time.

Author Biography

Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby are sports journalists and have been snooker fans for as long as they can remember. This is their first book.