Snooker and Pool Table Blog

Albeit professional sport should not just be a popularity contest, it is still interesting to see which players are the fans favourites.

Facebook has become increasungly popular throughout world over the last few years, there are many groups to join and quiz’s to take.

Global Snooker has reccently run a search to find the most popular players on facebook.com, the social networking site. Some were expected and there were a few random ‘wild cards’.

TOP 30 PLAYERS
Ranking - Name - Number of Fans
1 - Ronnie O’Sullivan - England - 47752
2 - Mark Selby - England - 8158
3 - John Higgins - Scotland - 1974
4 - Stephen Hendry - Scotland - 1756
5 - Neil Robertson - Australia - 956
6 - Shaun Murphy - England - 925
7 - Marco Fu - Hong Kong - 889
8 - Jimmy White - England - 717
9 - Ken Doherty - Rep. Ireland - 376
10 - Alex Higgins - N. Ireland - 360
11 - Judd Trump - England - 325
12 - Ricky Walden - England - 321
13 - Allister Carter - England - 305
14 - Peter Ebdon - England - 249
15 - Barry Pinches - England - 249
16 - Jamie Cope Eng - England - 247
17 - Matthew Stevens - Wales - 239
18 - Ding Junhui PR - China - 225
19 - Steve Davis - England - 200
20 - Willie Thorne - England - 185
21 - Mark Williams - Wales - 177
22 - Stephen Maguire - Scotland - 153
23 - Ryan Day - Wales - 116
24 - John Virgo - England - 99
25 - Joe Swail - N. Ireland - 85
26 - Liang Wenbo PR - China - 80
27 - John Parrott - England - 39
28 - Dave Harold - England - 37
29 - Dennis Taylor - N. Ireland - 35
30 - Joe Perry - England - 26

When compared with other sporting stars…

Ranking - Name - Sport - Number of Fans
1 - Roger Federer - Switzerland - Tennis - 1,380,537
2 - Lewis Hamilton - England - F1 Racing - 377,143
3 - Tiger Woods - USA - Golf - 353,665
4 - Ronnie O’Sullivan - England - Snooker - 47,752
5 - Phil Taylor - England - Darts - 23,056
6 - Andy Murray - Scotland - Tennis - 21,197
7 - Jenson Button - England - F1 Racing - 20,467
8 - Mark Selby - England - Snooker - 8,158
9 - Raymond Van Barneveld - Holland - Darts - 1,984
10 - Paul Casey - England - Golf - 335

Who is your favourite player and why?

Stephen Hendry Debut 1986

Name : Stephen Hendry MBE

Nationality : Scottish

Date of Birth : 13 January 1969

Year Turned Pro : 1985

Born in : South Queensferry, Edinburgh

Currently Lives : Auchterarder, Perthshire

Nickname/s : The Golden Boy, The Maestro, The Ice Man

Last 5 Seasons : 8-1-2-3-2

Highest World Ranking : 1 (9 years)

Current World Ranking : 10

Ranking Tournament Victories : 36 in total
Grand Prix 1987, 1990, 1991, 1995
British Open 1988, 1991, 1999, 2003
Asian Open 1989, 1990
Dubai Duty Free Classic 1989, 1990, 1993
UK Championship 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996
World Championship 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999
Welsh Open 1992, 1997, 2003
International 1993
Scottish Open 1997, 1999
European Open 1993, 1994, 2001
Thailand Masters 1998
Malta Cup 2005 (beat Dott 9-7)

Career Prize Money Won (up to start of 2008/09 season) : £8,396,485

Last Seasons Total Prize Money Won : £139,275

Highest Tournament Break : 147 (achieved 8 times)

First Career Highlight :
Hendry started playing in 1981 when he was 12 years old. Two years later he won the National Under 16 championship and also appeared on BBC’s junior version of Pot Black.

Memorable Career Highlight :
Hendry received an MBE is 2004 from the Queen
Hendry is generally considered the greatest snooker player ever, after he dominated the sport in the 90’s.

Most recent season review : 2007/08 Season
Hendry had a poor start to the season but this was rescued slightly when he reached the semi finals of the last three ranking event, but these did not lead to any victories. Overall one of Hendry’s poorer seasons.

Other Hobbies:
Playing Golf, Hendry is an expert golfer with a single handicap at Gleneagles.
Playing Poker with his friends Steve Davis and Mark Williams.
Hendry’s favourite bands include Suede and U2.

Other interesting facts :
Hendry was made an MBE by the Queen in 1994.
Hendry has been voted Scotlands Sports Personality of the Year twice.
Hendry was the youngest ever world champion at 21 years old.
Hendry held was the world champion of snooker between 1990 and 1998.
Hendry has well over 700 century breaks leading his other players.
Hendry’s first son is a keen snooker player and has won junior tounaments.

What are your views on Stephen Hendry?