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

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 

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,[lower-alpha 1] 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

Men

1960[5][1]: 56–62 
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Cliff Keaton
 Great Britain		 Michael Shelton
 Great Britain		 Giovanni Ferraris
 Italy
George Portelli
 Malta
1964[6]
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Michael Shelton
 Great Britain		 Frank Vecera
 United States		 Claude Markham
 Malta
George Portelli
 Malta
1968[7]
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's paraplegic open Michael Shelton
 Great Britain		 Jimmy Gibson
 Ireland		 John Newton
 Australia
Aroldo Ruschioni
 Italy
1972
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
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
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]
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's open Mike Langley
 Great Britain		 Michael White
 Ireland		 Maurice Job
 Great Britain

Medal table

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

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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. 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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