The Badminton Library of Sports & Pastimes, Billiards, W Broadfoot, 1896
Billiards includes the story of veteran player William Cook, who broke the reigning champion’s seven-year record total in 1896, and then quickly broke his own record again at the Prince of Wales hotel in Moss Side, Manchester. This late-Victorian overview of billiards shows men and women playing the game together throughout. Today, many snooker clubs in the UK have ‘men only’ rules due to loopholes in the Equality Act, and the professional sport is segregated. In 2019, 19-year-old Thai player Nutcharut Wongharuthai made the first ever 147 break by a female player to be officially recorded anywhere in the world.
