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Snooker at the Summer Paralympics

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In September 1943, the British government asked neurologist Ludwig Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.[1]: 1  When the centre opened in 1944, Guttmann was appointed its director and held the position until 1966.[2] Sport was introduced as part of the total rehabilitation programme for patients at the centre, starting with darts, snooker, punchball, and skittles, followed by archery.[1]: 1–3 

Snooker at the Summer Paralympics
Governing bodyIWAS
Events2 (men)
Games

Guttmann organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games for paraplegic persons in the form of an archery demonstration with two teams, which took place on 29 July 1948, the same day as the start of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Netball was then added as an event in 1949, and javelin throw in 1950. Snooker was first introduced into the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1951 and was included in every annual event up to 1959.[1]: 4–12, 45 

Guttmann originally used the term Paraplegic Games, a name that eventually developed into the "Paralympic Games" (or "Paralympics"), which were first held in Rome alongside the Summer Olympics in 1960.[3]

Snooker was included at the inaugural Summer Paralympics of 1960, held in Rome. The event took place outdoors in a covered area of a running track, on a table that was sent over from Stoke Mandeville Hospital.[1]: 56  With the exception of 1980,[a] snooker was then contested at each subsequent Summer Paralympics until 1988, a total of seven Paralympic Games.[4]

Snooker was only open to male competitors at the Paralympics.[1]: 368  Over its Paralympic history, the event was dominated by Great Britain, who won eight gold medals in the sport, three of which were awarded to Nottinghamshire player Michael Shelton.

Medal winners

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Men

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1960[5][1]: 56–62 
Main article: Snooker at the 1960 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Cliff Keaton
  Great Britain 		Michael Shelton
  Great Britain 		Giovanni Ferraris
  Italy
George Portelli
  Malta
1964[6]
Main article: Snooker at the 1964 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Michael Shelton
  Great Britain 		Frank Vecera
  United States 		Claude Markham
  Malta
George Portelli
  Malta
1968[7]
Main article: Snooker at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Michael Shelton
  Great Britain 		Jimmy Gibson
  Ireland 		John Newton
  Australia
Aroldo Ruschioni
  Italy
1972
Main article: Snooker at the 1972 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic[8] Michael Shelton
  Great Britain 		Jimmy Gibson
  Ireland 		Aroldo Ruschioni
  Italy
Men's tetraplegic[9][1]: 112  Peter Haslam
  Great Britain 		Cliff Rickard
  Australia 		Chris McGann
  Great Britain
1976
Main article: Snooker at the 1976 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's 2-5[10] D. Mellway
  Canada 		Brian Faulkner
  Great Britain 		Michael Shelton
  Great Britain
Men's A-C[11] Tommy Taylor
  Great Britain 		Rod Vleiger
  United States 		P. Haslam
  Great Britain
1984
Main article: Snooker at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic[12] Jimmy Gibson
  Ireland 		J. Buchanan
  Great Britain 		Mike Langley
  Great Britain
Men's tetraplegic[13] P. Haslam
  Great Britain 		K. Ellison
  Great Britain 		Tommy Taylor
  Great Britain
1988[14]
Main article: Snooker at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's open Mike Langley
  Great Britain 		Michael White
  Ireland 		Maurice Job
  Great Britain

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Great Britain (GBR)84618
2  Ireland (IRL)1304
3  Canada (CAN)1001
4  United States (USA)0202
5  Australia (AUS)0112
6  Italy (ITA)0033
  Malta (MLT)0033
Totals (7 entries)10101333

Notes

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  1. ^ Snooker was not included in the 1980 Summer Paralympics possibly because it was not an established sport in the Netherlands.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Brittain, Ian (2012). From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford : a history of the summer paralympic games (PDF). Champaign, Illinois: Common Ground Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-86335-988-7.
  2. ^ Wilkens, Miriem (29 June 2019). "Ludwig Guttmann". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  3. ^ "History of the Paralympic Movement". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Going for Gold". World Snooker Tour. 29 January 2019. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Snooker (Rome 1960)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Snooker (Tokyo 1964)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament Open (Tel Aviv 1968)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament Paraplegic (Heidelberg 1972)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament Tetraplegic (Heidelberg 1972)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament 2-5 (Toronto 1976)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament A-C (Toronto 1976)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament Paraplegic (Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Snooker – Men's Tournament Tetraplegic (Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Snooker (Seoul 1988)". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
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