KOCHI: Snooker may not get Olympic recognition anytime soon. The sport missed out on a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after their bid was unsuccessful three years ago. And there is more disappointment in store.
“Disappointingly, two days ago, it was announced that snooker or billiards or pool will not be in the Paris Olympic Games (2024). The decision has already been made. It is very disappointing news and for me, it is a wasted opportunity,” Jason Ferguson, who is the chairman of World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, told this newspaper on Thursday.
And according to him, the wait could continue even longer. “Realistically going forward, I think it will be very difficult to make an impact for Los Angeles (2028 Olympics venue). Realistically, this is going to be very tough for snooker. There will be many sports competing for these places. But we don’t give up,” he said.
Currently, the World Snooker Championship which is held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England is considered to be the pinnacle of the sport. Ferguson is of the opinion that this will never change and the efforts to get cue sports an Olympic status has more to do with getting government funding for countries around the world to develop the sport.
“Olympics is a great platform. But we all know that the greatest platform for snooker is the World Snooker Championship. This will never be replaced because this is history and it’s about heritage.” The disappointment of the Olympic snub aside, the world snooker body sees India as a place with a great future in the sport.
The Indian Open is into its fifth edition and the ranking tournament has been hosted in four different cities (New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam) before Kochi as it enters the final year of the contract. “It is the last year under the current agreement. But that doesn’t mean to say that it won’t continue. We would be sitting down with the BSFI and we’d be discussing how we can go forward. What I have seen is that the event is getting bigger every year,” Ferguson said.
Giving further indication that the Indian Open could continue in the coming years, he said that the event could be the trigger for more events across India.
“Eventually I think the Indian Open will find a home (a fixed venue). That will be the beginning of other events in other cities which will be growing in their own right. And we will see more than one event in India. Let’s focus on making this the crown jewel.”
Kadian ousted
On day two, India’s taented youngster Digvijay Kadian crashed out of the competition. The 16-year-old had a good start to his match against Andrew Higginson. He had a lead of 25 points in the first 2 frames but lost against to Higginson by a 0-4 scoreline. In another high profile match of the day, the 2019 BetVictor Snooker shootout champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) beat his higher-ranked opponent Michael Holt (England) to win 4-2 on Thursday.