On this week

25 October 1987 - HENDRY'S FIRST RANKING TITLE

Stephen Hendry won the Rothmans Grand Prix at The Hexagon in Reading beating former champion, Dennis Taylor, 9-7 in the final to give him his very first ranking title. Stephen was just 18 years and 285 days old making him the youngest winner of a ranking title up to that date and he remains the youngest ever winner of this title.

25 October 1992 - JIMMY EDGES OUT KEN FOR SECOND GRAND PRIX TITLE

The last ever Rothmans sponsored Grand Prix went to Jimmy White. He won the title for the second time with a nail biting 10-9 victory over Ken Doherty, who was appearing in his first ranking event final, at the Hexagon.

25 October 1997 - MAGUIRE’S PRO DEBUT

Stephen Maguire made his professional debut in the Benson & Hedges Championship at Malvern where he beat Leo Smith 5-3.

25 October 1998 - FIRST MAJOR TITLE FOR LEE

Stephen Lee captured his first ranking title when he defeated Marco Fu 9-2 in the Grand Prix final at Preston Guild Hall. This was only Marco's second ranking event having only previously played in the world championship earlier in that year and, at 377th, he was the lowest ranked player ever to appear in a ranking final.

25 October 2000 - MAXIMUM FOR MARCO

In the opening round of the Regal Masters at Motherwell, Marco Fu made a 147 in his match against Ken Doherty. Sadly it was the only frame he won as Ken beat him 5-1. Marco won a 4x4 car for the achievement but the only snag was that he couldn't drive!

25 October 2003 - ADVANI WINS IBSF WORLD CROWN

The IBSF World Amateur Championship in Jiangmen, China was won by India's Pankaj Advani who beat Saleh Mohammed of Pakistan 11-6 in the final.

25 October 2006 - IAN BLACK DIES

The 1981 Scottish Professional champion, Ian Black, died aged 51. Ian had 11 seasons on the world ranking tour, from 1981/2 to 1991/2 and had a best ranking of 47th.

25 October 2007 - TERRY GETS HIS AWARD AT THE PALACE

Terry Griffiths was invested with his OBE by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

26 October 1980 - WALES RETAIN WORLD TEAM TITLE

The Welsh team consisting of Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths and Doug Mountjoy won the State Express World Team Classic for the second year running beating the Canadian trio of Cliff Thorburn, Bill Werbeniuk and Kirk Stevens 8-5 in the final at the New London Theatre.

26 October 1986 - JIMMY WINS, BUT REX SETS A RECORD

Jimmy White claimed his first Rothmans Grand Prix title, at the Hexagon in Reading. In the final he had a 10-6 victory over Rex Williams who became the oldest player to appear in a world ranking final at the age of 53 years and 98 days.

26 October 1997 - DALE SPRINGS GRAND PRIX SURPRISE

World number 54, Dominic Dale sprang a major surprise when he beat John Higgins 9-6 to win the Grand Prix title at Bournemouth International Centre.

26 October 2005 - JOE SWAIL IS IRISH CHAMPION

After a gap of twelve years, the Irish Professional Championship was revived with sponsorship from VC Poker. At the Spawell Leisure Centre in Templeogue, Joe Swail, the champion in 1992 beat Ken Doherty, who had won the last one in 1993, 9-7 to reclaim the title.

27 October 1979 - WALES WIN SNOOKER'S FIRST WORLD CUP

The State Express World Cup, snooker's professional team tournament was won by Wales. In the final at the Haden Hill Leisure Centre in Birmingham, their team of Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths and Doug Mountjoy beat Fred Davis, John Spencer and Graham Miles representing England, 14-3.

27 October 1985 - DAVIS & TAYLOR DO BATTLE AGAIN

This entry should really be on 28th as it was 2:14 am when Steve Davis finally clinched a 10-9 victory over Dennis Taylor at the Hexagon to win his first Rothmans Grand Prix title and get some small measure of revenge for his defeat by Dennis in the famous Crucible final six months earlier.

27 October 1991 - HENDRY RETAINS GRAND PRIX TITLE

Stephen Hendry won the Rothmans Grand Prix title for the second year running and the third time in five years. In the final at the Hexagon in Reading he beat former three-time champion, Steve Davis, 10-6.

27 October 1996 - FIRST GRAND PRIX FOR MARK WILLIAMS

At Bournemouth International Centre, Mark Williams won the Grand Prix title for the first time with a 9-5 victory over surprise finalist, Euan Henderson of Scotland.

28 October 1984 - FIRST MAJOR TITLE FOR DENNIS TAYLOR.

The inaugural Rothmans Grand Prix at Reading's Hexagon Theatre was won by Dennis Taylor. There were emotional scenes as Dennis beat Cliff Thorburn 9-2 and claimed his first ranking title after 12 years as a professional just a couple of weeks after the death of his mother.

28 October 2002 - MAXIMUM FOR DRAGO.

Tony Drago compiled his first maximum break in competition against Stuart Bingham in the last 32 of the Benson & Hedges Championship at the Towers Club in Mansfield.

29 October 1972 - SPENCER BEATS HIGGINS AGAIN

The final of the autumn Park Drive 2000, a four-man event run on similar lines to the Premier League, was won by John Spencer who beat Alex Higgins 5-3. John had also beaten Alex in the final of the spring event.

29 October 1983 - ENGLAND REGAIN WORLD TEAM TITLE

At the Hexagon in Reading, England regained the State Express World Team Classic. Steve Davis, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo beat defending champions, Wales, 4-2. The Welsh fielded an unchanged team for the fifth year in succession - Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths & Doug Mountjoy.

29 October 1995 - RECORD FOURTH GRAND PRIX FOR HENDRY

The Skoda Grand Prix, held on this occasion at The Crowtree Centre in Sunderland, was won by Stephen Hendry for a record fourth time. In the final he defeated the defending champion, John Higgins, 9-5.

29 October 2000 - SCOTS MISS OUT AGAIN IN REGAL MASTERS

When Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Stephen Hendry 9-6 to win the Regal (Scottish) Masters at Motherwell, it was the fifth year in succession and the seventh time in eight years that a Scot had lost in the final.

29 October 2000 - MAGUIRE WINS WORLD AMATEUR TITLE

Meanwhile there was some good news for Scotland from the other side of the world. In Changchun, China, Stephen Maguire won the IBSF World Amateur Championship beating Luke Fisher 11-5 in the final.

29 October 2006 - ROBERTSON WINS AUSTRALIA’S FIRST RANKING TITLE

Neil Robertson became the first Australian player ever to win a world ranking tile when he defeated Jamie Cope 9-5 to win the Royal London Watches Grand Prix at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre.

29 October 2008 - MAXIMUM FOR LIANG.

Liang Wenbo compiled his first competitive maximum break in the qualifying rounds of the Bahrain Championship in Prestatyn against Martin Gould.

30 October 1976 - MOUNTJOY WINS WORLD AMATEUR TITLE

In Johannesburg, South Africa, Doug Mountjoy had a crushing 11-1 victory over Malta's Paul Mifsud to win the World Amateur Championship.

31 October 1929 - EDDIE CHARLTON BORN

One of the most familiar faces around in the early days of televised snooker, Eddie Charlton, was born in Merewether, New South Wales. 'Steady' Eddie never won a major title but he was three times runner up and six times a semi finalist in the world championship. He did beat Ray Reardon in the grandly named, World Match-Play Championship, a tournament which he promoted himself, in 1976 and was three times Pot Black champion. He was world number three for five years and after retiring from professional competition in 1995, continued giving exhibitions right up to h1s death in November 2004. He was awarded the Australian Order of Merit in 1980.

31 October 1940 - BOMB LANDS ON THURSTON'S

A German bomb land on Thurston's in Leicester Square which has hosted eight world championship finals. The building was restored and re-opened as Leicester Square Hall in 1947 where four more world championships and a number of other big tournament s were held.

31 October 1982 - CANADA CLINCH WORLD TEAM TITLE.

Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbeniuk won the State Express World Team Classic for Canada. In the final,at the Hexagon in Reading, they beat the holders, England, this time represented by Steve Davis, Jimmy White and Tony Knowles, 4-2.

31 October 1993 - EBDON'S FIRST RANKING TITLE

In only his third season on the tour, Peter Ebdon claimed his first ranking title beating Ken Doherty 9-6 to win the Skoda Grand Prix at the Hexagon.

31 October 2002 - MARK DAVIS SEALS WEMBLEY SPOT.

Mark Davis won the last ever Benson & Hedges Championship to clinch a place in the final B&H sponsored Masters at Wembley. In the final at the Towers Club in Mansfield he beat Mehmet Husnu 9-6.