TAIWAN'S top cuesports official has warned pool double world champion Wu Chia-ching that there will be 'serious consequences' if the player takes up Singapore citizenship.

Wu Chia-ching, The Little Genius WU CHIA-CHING arrived in Singapore earlier this month as a sparring partner for the Republic's national team. NICKNAME: The Little Genius ... more Wu has already received his Singapore employment pass and he started work with the national team last week. He flew home to Taiwan on Tuesday to take part in the island's national team selections this week.

For starters, Wu, one of the island's most famous pool players, stands to lose NT$900,000 (S$39,600), said Mr Tu Yung-hui, president of the Taiwan Pool and Billiards Association (CTBA).

If he switches nationalities, the association wants him to return the money, which was given to him as a reward when he won the World 9-Ball Championship and the World 8-Ball Championship in 2005.

His playing opportunities would also be limited over the next two years.

Under international rules, Mr Tu said, the 20-year-old would be ineligible for this year's World Championships as well as the Asian Games in Guangzhou next year.

Wu, nicknamed 'The Little Genius', sparked an uproar in Taiwan last month when it was revealed that he was coming to Singapore to be a sparring partner for the Republic's national team.

Speculation mounted that he was being targeted by Cuesports Singapore to become a national player under the Foreign Sports Talent scheme.

'He's one of our national treasures, and we want to do everything we can to keep him,' Mr Tu told The Straits Times in a telephone interview yesterday.

'He has to realise that there will be serious consequences if he leaves, and that includes financial ones.'

Aside from returning the monetary incentive he was given, Wu would be banned from competing in Taiwan's lucrative domestic tournaments.

Full story in Friday's edition of the Straits Times.