Cross-Straits shoot-out

By Li Jian

KUNSHAN, SUZHOU: The local Golden Point pool club stole the Christmas spotlight in this small city. Top billiard players from the mainland and Chinese Taipei chose to celebrate their Christmas with a cross-Straits, 9-ball tournament in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province and made the city a buzz for pool.

The Straights Pros 9-ball Tournament, marking a historical cornerstone moment in billiard sport history in Asia with four men and four women players from Chinese Taipei against matching mainland players was held December 23-26 in Kunshan.

Taipei player Po-Cheng Kuo, the new champion of the Chinese Taipei Professional 2005 Grand Finale Tournament, Taipei ace Fong-Pang Chao, the world's youngest world champion Chia-Ching Wu, 2005 World Games Gold Medallist Pei-Wei Chang and the top women players Jennifer Chen and Shin-Mei Liu spent their Christmas with the Chinese mainland players.

It is not only the first time they played in the tournament arranged by the officials of the China Billiard and Snooker Association Shanghai Committee, a governmental billiard sport management body, but also the first time the Chinese Taipei women players competed against the mainland women players in China.

Shin-Mei Liu, Yuan-Chun Lin, Pei-Chen Tsai and Jennifer Chen had played in Shanghai before, in the 2002 official tournaments co-ordinated by the Chinese Taipei Billiard Association and the China Billiard and Snooker Association, according to Mrtusports.

Taipei cueist Chia-Ching Wu, 16, took the trophy home after crushing his teammate Pei-Wei Chang 11-2 while Pei-Chen Tsai, 22, beat China ace Pan Xiaoting 9-4 after overcoming an early deficit.

Wu, who is still a senior high school student, said his first journey to the Chinese mainland was a fruitful one, which gave him a clear idea how much progress the mainland players had made in the past 10 years.

"They have made rapid progress in the past few years with good training," Wu said. He added that mainland men players still had a big gap to narrow to compete in the international level.

"I know well the mainland players but have had rare opportunities to compete with them in the past. The women players like Pan Xiaoting are rising to the top in the world and the men players are speeding up."

The cross-Straits 9-ball players competition began nine years ago under the auspices of the central government's sports authorities and Taipei's billiard association.

Zou Mingde, the director of the Taipei Women's Billiard Association said the tournament would be great help in polishing the mainland players whose inexperience would impede their improvement.

"In the past few years, the tournament had passive impact in the game on the mainland," said Zou. "We have co-operated with Shanghai local sports administration in training and other fields."

Encouraging progress

The next tournament is scheduled to be held next winter with more players expected to take part, according to Xu Ronggen, general secretary of the Chinese Taipei Billiard Association and the China Billiard and Snooker Association Shanghai Committee.

"Pool is still lagging behind in the mainland. We hope the players from Chinese Taipei will help to improve their skills," Xu said, who added that financial limitation was still a big problem for the players on the mainland which would impede their participation in more international tournaments.

China's cueist Pan Xiaoting is one of the outstanding 9-ball players in China. She is rising in the world as a 9-ball player who seized a milestone victory in the prestigious All-Japan Snooker Championships last month in Osaka. She is in the third position in the 9-ball world rankings after Allison Fisher of the United States and Karen Corr of Ireland.

The 23-year-old will attend all seven events at the World Professional Billiards Association Tour, a north America-based annual series that gathers most of the world's elite pool players.

She will become the first Chinese mainland player in the league.
"I am glad to celebrate this Christmas with the players from Chinese Taipei and it is a very interesting game," Pan said. "And I am looking forward the tournament next year."

Billiards is a popular game in Taiwan, especially among youngsters. Many schools in Taiwan have offered billiard classes and the last 10 years has seen Chinese Taipei's rise in the sport in the world.

"But we believe the Chinese mainland has a much bigger market for the sport," said Zou. "We hope to promote the game on the mainland by introducing our star players Jennifer Chen and Fong-Pang Chao. People will become interested in a game when they have interest in the players."

Jennifer Chen, dubbed the sexiest cueist in Chinese Taipei, said she believed the game would be popular in the mainland if more 9-ball games were broadcast.

Chen is a star in Taiwan, having won many Asian titles including the Japanese Professional Championship and the 2005 World Games 9-ball runner-up. She also was a commentator for a local television station in Taiwan.

"I am hoping to open a club in Beijing and teach the young people how to play the game," Chen said.

The China Billiard and Snooker Association and Chinese Taipei Billiard Association were considering a plan to promote the game in middle schools and high schools on the mainland and were planning to arrange a tour for the Chinese Taipei young players to visit the mainland next year.

Huimin Middle School, a Shanghai school that offers billiard classes, will be the first stop on the tour and the base for exchanges between the mainland and Chinese Taipei.