The Ruhr (German Ruhrgebiet, colloquial Ruhrpott, Kohlenpott, Pott or Revier), is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 7100/km² and a population of some 7.3 million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany. It consists of several large, formerly industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the Southwest it borders to the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people.

Since the Ruhr is polycentric, coordinates shown are general in nature and so can be used to focus on the entire region of the Ruhr: 51°30′N 7°30′E / 51.5°N 7.5°E / 51.5; 7.5.

From west to east, the region includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen, Dortmund, and Hamm, as well as parts of the more "rural" districts Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. Historically, the western Ruhr towns, such as Duisburg and Essen, belonged to the historic region of the Rhineland, whereas the eastern part of the Ruhr, including Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Dortmund and Hamm, were part of the region of Westphalia. Since the 19th century, these districts have grown together into a large complex with a vast industrial landscape, inhabited by some 7.3 million people (when including Düsseldorf and Wuppertal). It is the fifth largest urban area in Europe after Istanbul, Moscow, London and Paris.

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style, and is nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on four occasions (2001, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and, with career earnings of over £6 million is second after Stephen Hendry on snooker's all-time prize-money list. O'Sullivan has been the world's no. 1 player on five occasions, and has won a total of 24 ranking titles. He is second, again behind Hendry, on the list of players making the most competitive century breaks, with a total of 678. O'Sullivan has compiled 11 maximum breaks in professional competition, a record which he shares with Hendry. He also holds the record for the fastest maximum break, at 5 minutes 20 seconds.

O'Sullivan is considered by many fans, critics and professionals, including fellow multiple-World Championship winners Hendry and Steve Davis, as the most naturally talented player in the history of the game. He has, however, been involved in a number of controversial incidents during his career.

Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester.

He first entered the professional tour for the 2004/2005 season, but was unable to retain his place for the following season's tour. He regained his place for 2006/2007 by winning the European Under-19 Championship. He was awarded a concessionary place for the 2007/08 tour. Woollaston has twice reached the final group stages of the Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007, enjoying a marginally better tournament in 2006 by winning two matches compared to none in 2007. He also reached the final stages of the 2007 Welsh Open beating David Gray to reach the second round where he lost 2–5 to seven times World Champion Stephen Hendry.

Woollaston's first professional title was Event 3 of the Players Tour Championship in the 2011/2012 season. He defeated former World Champion Graeme Dott 4–2 in the final. His performances in the other 11 PTC's, including a quarter-final run in Event 8, saw him claim ninth place in the Order of Merit and therefore qualify for the 2012 Finals. It was the first time he made it to the main stages of a ranking event since 2007. He played Ding Junhui in the opening round and lost 2–4. Woollaston also qualified for the 2012 China Open by winning three qualifying matches, concluding with a 5–4 victory over Ryan Day. He played Ding again in the first round of the event and looked to be on course for a shock result as he led 4–0 at the interval in the best-of-nine frame match. However, Ding found his form and won 5 successive frames to take the match 5–4. His season concluded with a 3–10 loss to Dominic Dale in the final qualifying round for the World Championship and he finished ranked world number 43, meaning he had risen 26 places from the start of the season, the most of anyone on the tour.

Judd Trump (born 21 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player from Bristol. He enjoyed considerable success in youth tournaments before turning professional in 2005. On 3 April 2011, Trump won his first ranking title, beating Mark Selby 10–8 in the final of the China Open. Following this success in China, he reached the final of the 2011 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated by John Higgins. He then went on to win the 2011 UK Championship where he defeated Mark Allen 10–8 in the final.

Trump was English Under-13 and Under-15 champion, and reached the World Under-21 Championship semi-finals at the age of 14. At the same age, he became the youngest player ever to make a competitive 147, beating Jamie Jones's record.

In the 2005/06 season he joined the professional tour, and at the Welsh Open became the youngest player ever to qualify for the final stages of a ranking tournament. He reached the same last-48 stage for the China Open, losing 4–5 to Michael Holt, although this was designated the final qualifying round and was actually played in Prestatyn, Wales.

Steve Davis, OBE (born 22 August 1957 in Plumstead, London) is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire. He has won 28 ranking events in total, second only to Stephen Hendry.

Davis' achievements also include three Masters and a record six UK Championship titles. In 1988 he became the first player to complete snooker's Triple Crown in a single season. He is also a former four-time World Doubles champion with Tony Meo and won the World Team Classic/World Cup four times with England. In 1982, he became the first player to compile a televised maximum break and is one of four players to have compiled over 300 competitive century breaks. Though he has not won a major tournament since 1997, he continues to play snooker at a high level and reached the quarter-finals at the 2010 World Championship. He was still ranked in the world's top 16 at the age of 50, and is ranked number 51 after the 2012 World Championship.