Snooker is a game of precision. Under the gaze of television cameras and with thousands of pounds at stake the professionals might claim to perform under demanding conditions. A spot of chalk on the cue ball may be the difference between the victorious spotlight and the obscurity of defeat. Life can be very different at the other end of the scale where keen amateurs learn their game in more adventurous circumstances, where 'home' table advantage is considerable and to play more than once with the same cue is coincidence. The Book of Snooker Disasters and Bizarre Records documents with indecent relish disastrous interruptions to professional play that vary from exploding light bulbs and leaking roofs, to the unwelcome sounds of spectators excessively filled with food or drink. Slanting tables, dead cushions, tight pockets, oval balls and corkscrew cues combine with split trousers and burst braces to make snooker a game that must always be 'played with considerable inventive skill and no less a sense of humour. The book is introduced by six times World Champion Steve Davis, OBE, who remembers some of the flukes and disasters that have punctuated his own career.
