[Video] How snooker became China’s newest status sport

From snooker to Chinese eight-ball, cue sports have gained popularity in China in recent years. Many parents support their children in taking up the sport — some to foster a hobby, while others invest significant time and money to nurture future stars of the game.

Since August last year, seven-year-old Zhang Jiahao has been training in Chinese eight-ball at a billiard hall in Beijing, accompanied by his mother, Li Li. The primary one student practises quite often — on top of the weekends, he also heads straight to the billiard hall after school, training four times a week, two hours each session. Li believes that building a solid foundation early on could pave the way for her son to pursue a professional career in the sport.

As a Chinese billiard enthusiast herself, Li told Lianhe Zaobao that she had gifted her son a billiard table on his birthday last June. To her surprise, she discovered his natural talent with the cue and decided to seek out a coach for him so that he can avoid unnecessary setbacks.

During the interview, I observed that Zhang was independently practising his strokes and shots, with occasional guidance from his coach and mother. His main training drill at the moment involves lining up multiple coloured balls in a row and potting them sequentially from different angles.

In the same billiard hall, another boy was also practising the same drill. This 11-year-old took up Chinese eight-ball by chance. His mother, Xuanxuan, shared that he has been training for two months and that playing billiards has improved his focus.

Raising a child to become a professional player often demands significant parental commitment. Take nine-year-old Yao Dongyu as an example: since starting professional snooker training three months ago, he has been practising nearly every day at another billiard hall in Beijing, logging seven to eight hours of training daily.

Yao no longer attends a regular school and instead receives private tutoring. His mother, who frequently accompanies him to training, said, “His father and I are always with him. During training, someone has to set up the balls — he’s not tall enough to do it himself.”

Although billiards is not as commonly featured in school programmes as table tennis, badminton, basketball or soccer, it has gained popularity among Chinese parents and also attracted youths and even children — thanks to social media exposure, the rapid growth of domestic tournaments and the influence of star players.

Within China’s billiard community, it is generally believed that age is not a barrier to learning. However, the ideal minimum height for children is around 1.4 metres, to at least reach the top of the table. Otherwise, they would need to rely on height boosters.

Yet, five-year-old Wu Yiren recently went viral in China. In April this year, he was the youngest competitor in a youth Chinese eight-ball league in Tianjin. Standing at just 1.17 metres tall, he used a height booster made by his father to compete and rapidly caught the attention of netizens who dubbed him “Booster Boy”.

According to Chinese media reports, Wu hails from Dongguan and started playing billiards in August 2024, influenced by his father, Wu Zhijian. Wu Zhijian is a general practitioner who enjoys playing billiards; on weekdays, he would rent a floor of a friend’s hardware factory to use as a billiards room to play with friends, often with the younger Wu watching along the sidelines.

Billiards can be divided into snooker or Chinese eight-ball. Snooker originated in the UK and is traditionally known as a gentleman’s sport in the likes of golf and equestrianism. Meanwhile, Chinese eight-ball originated in China. Although the two share similar gameplay, with both involving striking balls on a table, it is widely perceived that snooker is more professional and with more rules, making it more niche in China. In contrast, Chinese eight-ball is easier to pick up and is more entertaining, thus making it more popular among the locals.

When I visited several billiard halls in Beijing, nearly all had tables for Chinese eight-ball, while snooker tables were less common.

Billiard enthusiast Shi Lei described Chinese eight-ball as being akin to gomoku, while snooker is more like Go; the two require entirely different strategies to play. He advised that children with no foundation should start with Chinese eight-ball, as the tables are smaller and the balls larger, making it easier to pot balls. Once they have mastered the basics, they can then decide whether to specialise in it or switch to snooker.

Yao Dongyu’s parents have a clear goal for their son — to emulate famous Chinese snooker player Zhao Xintong and become the next billiard star. Yao’s mother joked, “If he doesn’t want to walk the academic path, we’ll switch tracks and let him work hard on this path.”

Currently, Yao has not yet participated in formal competitions. His coach suggested that he practice for another year or two, stepping onto the competitive stage after mastering the basics.

In May this year, the 28-year-old Zhao Xintong won the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, UK, and became the first champion from China and Asia. This historic breakthrough sparked a new wave of interest in billiards across China.

However, Zhao’s path to the top was far from smooth sailing. According to public information, he began playing billiards at the age of eight, dropped out of school at 12 to focus on training, and became a professional player at 19. In 2023, his career hit a low point after being banned for 20 months due to a match-fixing scandal; it was only recently that he made a strong comeback.

Despite the growing popularity of billiards in China, professional training is still expensive. Parents hoping to cultivate “the next Zhao Xintong” may have to fork out six figures annually in tuition fees.

The Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) founded in 1986 has systematically standardised training courses. Coaches are categorised into junior, intermediate, senior and national levels based on experience and qualifications. Yao is currently training at Zhao’s alma mater, the CBSA World Snooker Academy, which is jointly organised by the association and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.

The academy offers one-on-one classes at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, at over 600 RMB (US$84) per hour. Students such as Yao who aim to become a professional player could incur annual tuition fees of over 100,000 RMB.

Yao’s father works in the finance sector, while his mother is a homemaker. The couple felt that although the cost of learning billiards was hefty, it is more affordable compared with equestrianism or golf.

Of course, not every family can invest as much time and money as the Yaos do. Li Li revealed that her son Zhang Jiahao is currently coached by the owner of the billiard hall free-of-charge, and she only needs to cover table fees, which cost about 1,000 RMB per month. Li herself has some experience in billiards and is able to assess coaching calibre.

Meanwhile, while having a good mentor can help a child avoid unnecessary setbacks, whether the child has the patience to overcome the drudgery of training at the early stages is also crucial.

Shi Lei, who had years of experience in youth sports training, pointed out that at the start, some coaches might ask children to lie on the table and practice their posture for weeks. He said, “Kids these days could lose interest long before that and just quit.”

Nonetheless, Shi saw much potential for this sport’s development in China. He and his partners developed an intelligent training system, hoping to inject fun into learning to improve teaching efficiency. They are working to introduce this system to schools, and have already reached agreements with three primary schools and one higher education institution in Beijing to expand the billiard market through this system.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国家长押注栽培明日台球世界冠军”.

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