SINGAPORE - The world’s best English billiards players will converge on Singapore as the World Billiards Championship will be held in South-east Asia for the first time.
Held at the Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy (Rossa), at the Grandstand in Bukit Timah, the event will run from Nov 21 to 24.
Forty-five players, including Singapore’s defending world champion Peter Gilchrist and England’s world No. 1 David Causier, will compete for the £5,000 (S$8,100) winner’s cheque, with a high break prize of £1 per point.
Gilchrist, 54, had claimed his fourth world title in 2019, 25 years after he won his first. He has been in good form with recent wins at the Hamilton and New Zealand Opens.
He said: “It’s fantastic the World Billiards Championship is going to be in Singapore, and great that the public will have the chance to witness the world’s best three-ball exponents at Rossa, an equally world-class facility.
“I will relish playing on home soil as the current world champion. As an added bonus, if I manage to defend my title, I will also go back to world No. 1.”
The event, one of the oldest championships in professional sport dating back to 1860, is making a return after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
The winner will be presented with the John Roberts Trophy, the oldest world championship trophy in existence since 1870, 10 years after the World Billiards Championship started.
It normally resides in a sporting museum in Liverpool, but will be on display at Rossa until Nov 24.
Gilchrist will face stiff opposition in his Cup defence. Causier has claimed nine world ranking titles within the past 1½ seasons while the world’s top eight players are in the draw.
There will be representation from 10 countries, including Australia’s former women’s world champion Anna Lynch, 10 Singaporeans, as well as Christopher Abiodun and Victor Ukueku, the first Nigerians to feature in the final stages, and India’s World Disability Billiards and Snooker star Raja Subramanian.
Cuesports Singapore president Justin Lee said: “Cuesports Singapore is pleased to support the hosting of the prestigious World Billiards Championship alongside Sport Singapore.
“We are committed to developing the sport in Singapore, and have seen progress via our initiation of our development squad for billiards.
“Defending world champion Peter Gilchrist has been a beacon for the local cue sports scene and a role model for our athletes. We wish him all the best and hope he is able to defend his title on home soil.”
Preceding this main event is the Nov 19-20 Singapore Open Billiards Championship, which will be held at the same venue. The capacity for each session in both events is about 50, and admission is free.
