iSport | For the Fans, by the Fans

The 'Cannon Ball' in his first write up on iSport.in describes the funny workings in the world of Cue Sports. With 2 governing bodies that are fighting for global recognition - it is the players that are suffering, not only from the lack of competition but also from lack of recognition.

The International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) are two parallel governing bodies of cue sports. Each of them conducts their own World Championships. While the WPBSA focuses heavily on snooker, the IBSF gives a great deal of importance to both billiards and snooker. Earlier, the IBSF used to conduct amateur championships but now the participants in all their championships are non-professionals. The difference between the two is demonstrated in the following paragraph:

In 2003, Indian wonderboy, Pankaj Advani, won the IBSF World Snooker Championship. The tournament allowed professional players to participate too (until 2004). The title by no means can therefore be called an amateur title. In Billiards, professionals of WPBSA also participate in the IBSF World Billiards Championship. In fact, it is noticed that there are more participants in the IBSF World Billiards Championships than the WPBSA one. Another example of a player participating in tournaments of both leagues is Peter Gilchrist of England. He is now a citizen of Singapore and represents them in all IBSF championships. Yet, he is a professional Billiards player.

This is one sport that does not have any “amateur” titles. While the WPBSA conducts professional snooker and billiards World Championships for a few players, mainly British, considering a majority of the tourneys are held in the UK, IBSF carries out World Championships in different countries and continents each year, with a participation of over 70 countries.