When you go to one they will tell about the other good rooms. You'll start to catch on after awhile.
Chinese pool starting to steal more and more 9 ballers, even without the big prize pool
- Thread starter kingwang
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i don't remember that take on nguyen anh tuan. he's a semipro pushing 40. the thing with him was rather that he's quite entertaining to watch, he's very very aggressive. the duya format rewards that, his power break will come in handy too.
if they continue to promote 9 ball on the Chinese tables and have the prize money I can see it surpassing WNT
8 ball not so much, too many non Chinese found out the pattern knowledge required is a hurdle near impossible to overcome
8 ball not so much, too many non Chinese found out the pattern knowledge required is a hurdle near impossible to overcome
Makes sense.
Hope you're right. We both greatly only watching Chua.
Eyeballing their 2026 results:
Albert Januarta earned about $35,000 this year playing in WNT events, so he has something to show for his play. With 3rd at the PLP, 2nd at the Scottish Open, 5th at the Florida Open and 5th at the Arizona Open, he appears to have arrived as a player that must be reckoned with.
AJ Manas made just $12,000 this year in WNT play, probably only covering a little more than expenses. While we all know he makes plenty from sponsorships and social media, he can make that without ever leaving Asia, where his brand is very strong and where most of the pool-watching world lives. For the most part, pool is watched in three areas of the world, and their populations are about: a) Asian continent 5,000,000, b) The Americas (North and South combined) 1,400,000, and c) Europe 750,000. By percentage, that Asia 70%, the Americas 20% and Europe 10%. I highly doubt that his travels to America and Europe are necessary to keep his brand super-strong, so I feel that unless he progresses further and starts making more money in WNT play, there is a danger he will split the WNT scene. The potential is there, but let's never confuse potential for performance. Despite flashes of undeniable brilliance, Manas, to me, has yet to arrive.
I agree, and while the stars of Asia would be missed, the globalization of the game that took place over the past ten years has ensured that countless great players will emerge from dozens of countries. As we've seen, the last five WNT events were won by a) an Albanian, b) an American, c) an Estonian, d) a Serbian, and e) a Spaniard. The talent pool in the western world is very deep and will get deeper, so tours of the west should be able to remain both healthy and financially viable.
I think it improbable that, given that most of the world's pool fans are Asian, the Duya tour will place much emphasis in marketing its tour to the west, but I'm sure they won't completely overlook the western pool fan, either.
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uk_9_ball_convert
Well-known member
I watched a bit of a Chinese 8 ball tournament and I don't know if I was unlucky with the game I happened to see, but there was one frame where neither player wanted to take the finish on and was hoping the other player would go for it and they both just kept playing nothing shots in the hope the other guy would get impatient and do something stupid. I enjoy a good safety battle, but this was just nudging balls and leaving the white in the open, not an exchange of snookers or even putting the cue ball in an awkward position. When a player tries to bore his opponent into submission it doesn't not make a good spectator sport. Would love to give it a go just for the challenge though, but not aware of any tables near me.
Yes, let's hope you feel up to it, Jay. Your presence adds to any pool event and I know that whenever you attend a pool event, countless people are pleased to see and greet you.
I feel that Heyball should be included in the discussion of the growth of Asian pool, and considered in conjunction with the growth of both American pool and three cushion billiards, what's happening in Asia is both wonderful and impressive.
uk_9_ball_convert
Well-known member
if we're talking about Asian cue sports in general snooker has went from never having an Asian world champion to it being won by Chinese players 2 years in a row. About a third of the top ranked players are now Chinese in a sport that's traditionally been dominated by British people. The debate seems to have shifted from when will we get our first Chinese world champion, to when will we get a winner that's not Chinese.
Seeing how all are basically asian 'locals' just htf are they stealing players??
Thanks for sharing.
Still, the emergence of Asian players as snooker champions does not necessarily mean that the game of snooker is growing significantly in Asia. Do you know whether it is growing as much as other cuesports such as Heyball, American pool, and three cushion billiards?
here's ralph eckert's take on heyball:
it's a bit conspiratorial, but some will probably like it
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Yes, there’s money to it. But I wouldn’t disagree that there’s a fair amount of political motivation. Whether it’s players from a certain area favoring one game over another, “switching teams” or pushing this version to become the “front cover” of the billiards world in general.
I could spin about this for ages, but I’m walking home, heavy hearted, having sold a gorgeous cue haha
Curious to know what you might consider conspiratorial. Eckert doesn't seem like the conspiratorial type.
China created its own, native billiard game (with Western influence of course), even though there was no need for one.
Now the country and its companies are throwing money around. China tries to dominate whatever it can. Why not billiards? If the Olympics is going to have billiards, why not heyball?
If Eckert is right, the direction of the Olympics efforts would be disturbing.
i'm not reading that shite again, but as i remember it; the origin myth of chinese 8-ball as a "future olympic game", and WPA wanting to replace american pool and snooker with heyball.
should be said that i personally don't care about the olympic efforts.
Cool. By the way, my post had a typo. Should have said "we both enjoy watching Chua."
uk_9_ball_convert
Well-known member
With snooker I think the boom is just local to China rather than the whole of Asia, but according to this article there are 300,000 snooker clubs in China and there are apparently 50-60 million snooker players in China:
China launches snooker team league in bid to become 'leading powerhouse'
A new snooker league has launched in China as the country bids to 'move from a major billiards nation to a leading powerhouse.'
metro.co.uk
Last years world championship final was viewed by 25 million on Chinese TV and more people watched it online (424 million streams, though that figure is for whole tournament, not just the final)
Zhao’s Victory Has Massive Impact On Chinese Audience
The Official Website of World Snooker
www.wst.tv
Think Matchroom started organising tournaments in China hoping it would become a new market, then Ding Junhui emerged as an elite player which helped grow the sport more. And it's just mushroomed in popularity from there.
The irony being that snooker halls are becoming rarer and rarer in the UK, and there aren't as many good players emerging from the UK. Ronnie O'Sullivan is probably the only snooker player that's actually a well known name to the general public. So it is a bit worrying what will happen to the game after he retires (he's already playing in a lot less events). Though they are bringing back a popular game show involving snooker to tv, so maybe that will help it get a bit more mainstream.
Just noticed after saying that the snooker boom is just in China and not the rest of Asia, that when you look at the womens world rankings there are quite a lot of women from Thailand doing well:
World Rankings | WWS | Women's Snooker
View the latest rankings via WPBSA SnookerScores. The WWS world rankings operate on a rolling two-year basis. Learn more by reading our Rankings FAQ. We [...]
www.womenssnooker.com
Number one player is from Hong Kong and I wonder if that formerly being a British colony has left a snooker culture there. I know a lot of African countries play English pool rather than American pool which I'm pretty sure must be down to colonisation.
Article seemed to suggest it wasn't that the WPA wanted to, but Chinese money was doing the talking. I know nothing about this stuff, but I have to believe money does matter in a sport with so little of it.
Me neither. But if being an Olympic sport brings more publicity, money and outside advertisers ...
Wow! Thanks for a great, informative post.With snooker I think the boom is just local to China rather than the whole of Asia, but according to this article there are 300,000 snooker clubs in China and there are apparently 50-60 million snooker players in China:
China launches snooker team league in bid to become 'leading powerhouse'
A new snooker league has launched in China as the country bids to 'move from a major billiards nation to a leading powerhouse.'
Last years world championship final was viewed by 25 million on Chinese TV and more people watched it online (424 million streams, though that figure is for whole tournament, not just the final)
Zhao’s Victory Has Massive Impact On Chinese Audience
The Official Website of World Snooker
Think Matchroom started organising tournaments in China hoping it would become a new market, then Ding Junhui emerged as an elite player which helped grow the sport more. And it's just mushroomed in popularity from there.
The irony being that snooker halls are becoming rarer and rarer in the UK, and there aren't as many good players emerging from the UK. Ronnie O'Sullivan is probably the only snooker player that's actually a well known name to the general public. So it is a bit worrying what will happen to the game after he retires (he's already playing in a lot less events). Though they are bringing back a popular game show involving snooker to tv, so maybe that will help it get a bit more mainstream.
Just noticed after saying that the snooker boom is just in China and not the rest of Asia, that when you look at the womens world rankings there are quite a lot of women from Thailand doing well:
World Rankings | WWS | Women's Snooker
View the latest rankings via WPBSA SnookerScores. The WWS world rankings operate on a rolling two-year basis. Learn more by reading our Rankings FAQ. We [...]
Number one player is from Hong Kong and I wonder if that formerly being a British colony has left a snooker culture there. I know a lot of African countries play English pool rather than American pool which I'm pretty sure must be down to colonisation.