CHENGDU – For the 7th edition of the World Games, featuring 61 disciplines in 35 sports that are not part of the Olympic Games, 12 of the world's top billiard players and 8 ladies will travel to China in about two weeks. The event in Chengdu (Civil Aviation Flight University) will kick off on Thursday, 7 August with the opening ceremony. The Games themselves will start on 8 August. The billiard players (three-cushion, snooker, pool and heyball) have a practice day on Saturday 9 August and will compete from Sunday 10 to Thursday 14 August.
Dick Jaspers, Therese Klompenhouwer and Karina Jetten represent the Netherlands in three-cushion billiards. Tamara Rademakers, a pool player from Limburg, will compete in heyball discipline. The Belgians, who have Eddy Merckx high in the rankings, have no player in carom. Marco Zanetti is also not part of the select group.
The Belgians only have Wendy Jans in snooker.
The best-known sports on the World Games programme are American football, baseball, softball, gymnastics, squash, triathlon and others, including drone sports, karate, jujitsu, dance sport, canoeing, petanque and wheelchair rugby.
The following players will compete in the men's three-cushion event: Dick Jaspers, Myung Woo Cho, Tayfun Tasdemir, Quyet Chien Tran, Jung han Heo, Sameh Sidhom, Martin Horn, Jérémy Bury, Luis Martinez, Eric Tellez, Pedro Piedrabuena, Jiale Qian.
Women: Charlotte Sörensen, Therese Klompenhouwer, Karina Jetten, Ayaka Miyashita, Claudia Lalinde, Jackeline Perez, Gülsen Degener, Kien Tuong Phuong.
Charlotte Sörensen, the Danish world champion at the World Games
Myung Woo Cho, the Korean world champion in the man three cushion