Ng On-yee crowned inaugural Asian 6 Reds champion as powerbrokers hope event aids return of cue sports to Asian Games
Hong Kong snooker star bags another title
Hong Kong snooker star Ng On-yee added another top title to her collection with victory in the 6 Reds tournament at the first Asian Billiard Sports Championships in the UAE.
Former world champion Ng comfortably beat India’s Vidya Pillai 5-1 in the final, having beaten Arantxa Sanchis by the same score in the semis.
The event is the first outside the Asian Games to feature all cue sports (snooker, pool, billiards, carom and Chinese 8 ball pool). The sport's key figures hope it can ease the path for the sport's return to the Games, having been knocked off the programme after Guangzhou 2010.
"There was a lot of talk from people in senior positions here suggesting that Billiard Sports has an excellent chance of returning to the Asian Games in China in 2022," said Wayne Griffiths, head billiard sports coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
"This event is seen as a fore-runner to that and the strength of the squad sent here by China suggests that they are very serious about this."
China won the men's and team 9-ball pool events and were set to add the women's 9-ball and 8-ball tournaments too.
"They sent two former main tour professionals for the snooker, but such is the standard of Asian snooker now, they did not manage to pick up a medal in any of the four snooker events," added Griffiths.
Hong Kong's Au Chi-wai reached the final of the men's 6 Reds tournament and Griffiths was particularly pleased as Kong Bu-hong and Lo Ho-sum took bronze in the 9-ball pool team event.
"Players from the top 10 in the world were in attendance there and this hopefully shows the potential we would have if we did ever get the opportunity to get back into the Games," added Griffiths.
