There’s good news for the world’s best practitioners of billiards sports and the tens of millions of fans around the globe who follow pool, snooker and carom.
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) can now announce that pool, snooker, and carom will be included in the 2021 World Games to be hosted in the US city of Birmingham, Alabama, July 15 - 25.
The announcement was made during the recently held SportAccord General Assembly held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event that showcases sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games, but are under the Olympic umbrella. The World Games are organized and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA), and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Games are held every four years, one year after the Summer Olympic Games.
Some of the other sports that are held at The World Games are acrobatic gymnastics, ultimate Frisbee, karate, powerlifting, finswimming, squash, korfball, billiards, water skiing, and dance sport.
The World Games often serve as a spring board for certain sports to eventually be chosen to participate in the Olympic Games. Sports that began in the World Games that are now regularly contested in the Olympic Games include badminton, beach volleyball, trampoline, rugby sevens, taekwondo, triathlon, and women's weightlifting.
The billiard disciplines of Carom, Pool and Snooker have been part of the program of every World Games since the 2001 Games in Akita Japan.
*The World Confederation of Billiards Sports is the international umbrella organization that represents the major cue sports, including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker. For more information regarding the WCBS, please visit http://www.wcbs-billiards.org/.
