China ready to soar to the glory of billiards as it pushes to dominate the sport

Zhao Songrui, who is a billiards coach in the western city of Chengdu, said a Chinese world champion would be a “big boost” for a country that has adopted sports like no other. As the flagship event of the sport begins on Saturday, you can soon achieve your desire.

The annual World Billiards Championship will be held at their traditional UK home for the next two weeks, but the biggest interest will be, by far, in China, where the top matches will be followed by a fast-paced audience from Shanghai to Shenzhen. .

The rapid growth of billiards in China adds to what is already a major business opportunity in the most populous country in the world. An estimated 50 million players regularly collect a point in China.

The number of Chinese watching major events on television has shrunk the population of most European countries for decades. An estimated 150 million people will follow this year’s competition on state-owned CCTV television, with an even larger audience that will keep their cell phone action up during the season.

“We’re seeing an absolutely massive amount of online viewing,” said Miles Pearce, commercial director of World Snooker, which organizes world tournaments for the sport. “Two or three years ago [mobile viewing] it wasn’t even a market for us. Now I think we will have 500 million online video views in China alone. “

About a third of the world’s billiards tour events take place in China, including the Shanghai Masters and Evergrande Championships in China, sponsored by one of the country’s largest real estate developers.

Pearce said the sport wanted to organize even more events in the country when travel restrictions on the coronavirus are reduced. He noted lucrative partnerships with Chinese companies, including Xingpai, a manufacturer of distinctive green sports tables.

The rise of billiards echoes a broader push by the Chinese government to increase its presence in world sports, especially football, although the country’s league has been under financial pressure due to its links with major conglomerates.

A feature of the game in China has been the large number of young players. A specialized academy in Beijing, which opened in 2013 and was supported by world champion Steve Davis, has propelled a large number of younger players to the world stage.

China’s world championship hopes this year rests on the shoulders of Yan Bingtao, the 21-year-old pool prodigy who won the prestigious Masters tournament in January. There is also veteran Ding Junhui, the first Chinese player to gain worldwide recognition in the sport.

Twenty-three Chinese, out of 128 in total, are playing on the world tour, while five of the 32 competitors in this year’s world championship are from China.

The rise of elite billiards players is just one element of the growth of sports in China, which is part of a period of intense urbanization and a lightning change in recreational opportunities that is still far from over. complete.

Billiards, which originated in the British Army in nineteenth-century colonial India, and the similar game of billiards have emerged as popular pastimes in China’s rapidly evolving culture. Big cities like Beijing and Shanghai can boast hundreds of billiard and billiard rooms.

At an air-conditioned underground pool club in Beijing, players check their phones between table visits.

A young professional from Hebei Province and her friend – who said they would tune in to watch billiards this weekend – noted that the environment was a long way from when they played at the outdoor tables in the 1990s. all at the bottom of winter.

“None of these days still exist,” one of them said, looking at the next shot.

Pearce warned that there was no certainty that China would dominate the sport despite the investment, highlighting the expansion of the game to other new markets such as India, its popularity in Germany and Eastern Europe, as well as the its enduring strength in the UK. “I think there’s a lot of competition,” he said.

Still, he agreed that it would be “very, very big” for billiards in China if Yan could win the tournament.

The head of a Shanghai billiard club doubted whether the young man had what it took to claim the first world crown for China, but was more effusive with Ronnie O’Sullivan, the six-time winner and reigning champion who begins its defense on Saturday. “It is great. . . I see him play and I have learned a lot, ”he said.

Additional reports from Wang Xueqiao in Shanghai