Billiards Seeking 2024 Olympic Inclusion

Reported today in the Daily Times of Pakistan… BEIJING: Officials of world’s billiard governing body are determined to push the cue sport into the Olympic program as they have already decided to bid for inclusion at the 2024 Games following failure for Tokyo 2020. “Of course we’ll continue to bid for the 2024 Olympics,” World Pool-Billiard Association president Ian Anderson told Xinhua at the Women 9-ball World Champion which concluded in Guilin on Sunday. World Confederation of Billiards Sport (WCBS), billiard’s global governing body, submitted a first-ever Olympic bid for joining the 2020 Games in January, but the sport, competing against 25 others, did not make the shortlist of eight chosen by Tokyo Olympics organizers in June.
Anderson, however, said that the organizers and IOC officials were impressed by their presentation. “We’ll have a much improved chance for 2024,” Anderson said. “But it also depends on how they choose the sports. The standard seems to me changing all the time.” “It is not very easy. A lot of sports are competing,” he added. Jason Ferguson, president of World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), had admitted that he actually didn’t anticipate billiard’s inclusion in the Tokyo Games but they had to “make their voice heard”. “I think 2024 is our chance,” he said before billiard made the 2020 bid.

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