India ready to say 'Hi' to 'Heyball'?

Bengaluru: The name itself might not have a serious ring to it, but ‘Heyball’ is serious business, and the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India is looking to cash in on it.

Heybal - the brand name for Chinese 8-ball pool - has taken the world by storm over the last couple of years with its hybridisation of snooker with pool. 

In essence, the format is played on small-sized snooker tables (meaning the pocket cuts - rounded - are similar to those found in snooker) with American pool balls (57mm). Naturally, this makes potting harder, but the game remains true to 8-ball rules and regulations. 

That said, neither degree of difficulty nor novelty are the reasons for the BSFI to converse with Joy Billiards - a table manufacturer in China and tour organisers - earlier this month. 

“Heyball has a lot of potential to become massive in India,” BSFI chief S Balasubramaniam tells DH. “We had a conversation with the organisers and things look promising as of now. There are a lot of figures they have given us, and some plans too. We need to look into those things and make sure it’s in the best interest of the sport. 

“That said, the kind of money they are dealing with is phenomenal and that can be of great use to players from our country. Money has been a big deterrent to this sport so far, and that can change if Heyball does what it intends to do. We're excited to see what the future holds."

Save for winning at the World Championships in snooker, the odds of you walking away with a sustainable chunk of change in cuesports are slim. In fact, you’re most likely going to make something in the ballpark of Rs 30,000 for winning a State title in Karnataka. 

When these are the kind of numbers this country, and some others too, are tackling while pursuing the sport, active purveyors of Heyball have crumpled the ceiling on monetary rewards. 

Pranit Ramchandani, who is Joy Billiards’ exclusive dealer in India and the man in charge of bringing Heyball to these shores, noted that should they sign the deal with the BSFI in the future, they could well kick off an Indian Open and put up a prize money pool of $100,000. 

If that seems absurd, the Champion of Champions event to be run in Australia in October has a prize pool of $400,000 and the World Championship in Slovenia has the same. The World Masters Grand Finals in China in March next year has a prize pool of $1,700,000, and the winner of this open event takes home $700,000. 

“I was introduced to the sport in 2019, and I knew it had great potential immediately,” says Pranit, who is the only Indian playing actively on the Asian Circuit. “Cuesports has historically lacked money, and this changes everything. Moreover, the game is not complicated, it just takes time to understand the strategy and to be more precise with your potting.”

“Given how quickly this sport has risen up the ranks, we are in talks with the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) to see if we can take the sport to the Olympics in 2032 (in Brisbane),” he adds. 

When asked about the logistics of bringing the sport to the country, Pranit notes that the tables themselves are an expensive factor, costing approximately Rs 8.5 lakh per table. 

“I will be launching an academy in Bengaluru soon so more people can access these tables and get a hang of it,” he says. “I think Heyball can be that bridge our Indian cueists have never had. We struggled to get professional players because of expenses, but also because we don’t have good infrastructure here. We can change all that.” 

Another interesting factor which Pranit touches upon is the parity in pay between men and women in the sport. “Heyball will get around $60 million pumped into it in the next five years, meaning there will be bigger and bigger tournaments. That said, from the time the sport has begun, the organisers have maintained that men and women get paid equally. This ensures more and more women players come into the sport, and that’s another way to get sport - all of cuesport - to grow and evolve," he says. 

UPCOMING HEYBALL TOURNAMENTS (TOTAL PRIZE MONEY IN BRACKETS)

• International Open 2, Malaysia ($50,000)

• Champion of Champions, Australia ($400,000)

• Oceania Championship, Australia ($116,000)

• European Championship, Slovenia ($116,000)

• World Championship, Slovenia ($400,000)

• African Championship, Morocco ($116,000)

• Asian Championship, Qatar ($116,000)

• International Open 3, Indonesia ($50,000)

• International Open 4, Singapore ($50,000)

• March-April: World Masters Grand Finals, China ($1,700,000)