As a lifelong sports enthusiast and former competitive billiards player, I've often found myself explaining to friends why this beautiful game hasn't made it to the Olympic stage yet. Just the other day, I was watching a professional match and couldn't help but notice the parallels between what keeps billiards out of the Olympics and the mindset expressed by players like Mocon, who said: "There's always a chip on my shoulder, whatever team, Rain or Shine or Phoenix. I just have to prove, not to anybody, but to myself na I have a value and I can still play at a high level." That statement perfectly captures the underdog spirit that permeates billiards culture - a sport constantly fighting for recognition while knowing its inherent worth.
The Olympic selection process is notoriously political, and having covered sports governance for over fifteen years, I've seen how subjective these decisions can be. Billiards faces what I call the "participation paradox" - while the International Olympic Committee claims to value global participation, they've consistently overlooked cue sports despite billiards having approximately 60 million regular competitive players worldwide across more than 120 countries. That's more participants than many current Olympic sports can claim, yet the perception persists that it's more barroom pastime than athletic discipline. I've personally witnessed this bias in action during conversations with Olympic officials who dismiss billiards as "not physically demanding enough," ignoring the incredible mental stamina, precision, and physical control required at elite levels.
What many people don't realize is that billiards actually meets most of the technical Olympic criteria better than some sports that have been included. The World Confederation of Billiard Sports, which I've followed closely since its formation in 1992, has made multiple applications for Olympic inclusion, each time meeting the formal requirements only to be rejected for what appear to be purely subjective reasons. The infrastructure argument doesn't hold water either - billiards requires less specialized facilities than sports like kayaking or equestrian, and the equipment costs are substantially lower than something like sailing. I've calculated that you could stage the entire billiards competition for what it costs to run just the modern pentathlon events, yet one remains while the other continues waiting.
The television ratings argument particularly frustrates me because it's based on outdated assumptions. During the 1998 Asian Games where billiards was featured, the finals drew television audiences of over 50 million viewers across Asia alone, numbers that would make many Olympic sports green with envy. Yet the IOC continues to prioritize sports with declining viewership while keeping billiards at arm's length. Having worked in sports broadcasting, I can confirm that billiards actually translates beautifully to television - the slow buildup of tension, the visible strategy, the dramatic shots - it's made for compelling viewing in ways that many current Olympic sports simply aren't.
There's also what I term the "country concentration bias" working against billiards. Olympic officials often point to the sport's traditional strength in certain regions like Europe and Asia as a negative, ignoring both the sport's growing global footprint and the fact that many Olympic sports have similar geographic concentrations. What they miss is that billiards has been experiencing explosive growth in non-traditional markets - Africa has seen a 40% increase in registered players over the past decade, and South American participation has nearly doubled during the same period. I've seen this firsthand through my work with youth billiards programs in emerging markets where the sport's accessibility makes it particularly appealing in developing nations.
The drug testing infrastructure presents another fascinating hurdle that most people don't consider. Having spoken with anti-doping experts, I learned that billiards faces unique challenges here - not because of widespread doping, but because the substances that might actually enhance performance in cue sports are primarily mental focus medications that are extremely difficult to regulate effectively. The World Anti-Doping Agency has struggled to establish appropriate thresholds for beta-blockers and similar medications that could provide unfair advantages in precision sports. This creates a regulatory nightmare that the IOC seems unwilling to tackle, despite similar issues existing in other Olympic sports like shooting and archery.
Youth engagement represents both a challenge and opportunity for billiards' Olympic aspirations. While the sport has historically struggled with an aging demographic in Western countries, the reality in Asia tells a completely different story. During my visits to billiards academies in China and the Philippines, I was amazed to see facilities filled with young players, some as young as eight, training with professional coaches. The digital era has actually helped rather than hurt billiards - platforms like YouTube have created billiards celebrities with millions of followers, and the rise of online streaming has made professional matches more accessible than ever before. The generation that grew up with video games has discovered that real-life billiards offers similar strategic satisfaction with added social benefits.
Looking ahead, I'm cautiously optimistic about billiards' Olympic future despite the obstacles. The IOC's Agenda 2020 reforms have created more flexibility for host cities to propose additional sports, and the growing emphasis on cost-effective sports that don't require building expensive new venues works in billiards' favor. The success of cue sports in multi-sport events like the Asian Games and World Games demonstrates that billiards can thrive in an Olympic-style environment. Most importantly, the global billiards community is finally organizing itself more effectively, with better governance structures and more professional marketing approaches that address the very concerns the IOC has historically raised. Like Mocon with his chip-on-the-shoulder determination, billiards continues proving its value not for external validation, but because the sport knows what it's worth. The Olympic dream remains alive, and I firmly believe we'll see those green-felt tables in the Games within the next decade or two, finally giving this magnificent sport the global platform it so richly deserves.