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Olympic
Recognition an insurmountable obstacle!
Ever since in the many
attempts have been made in order for Billiards to possibly achieve the Olympic
Recognition, but all of them to no avail. Two major obstacles were standing
in the way; Billiards did not comply with the definition of Sports that
was valid at this point in time, and the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) demanded for a possible recognition one organization in charge of
all Billiards Sports. Clearly the understanding of what possibly should
be considered a sport, or not, was a matter that was beyond reach for all
of the people that wanted to see the status of Billiards Sports elevated,
but eventually something could be done about the second obstacle? Bearing
in mind that the three main disciplines of Billiards, Carom, Pool and Snooker,
did share the origin of Billiards, but developed separate from each other
ever since in the middle of the 19th century, also this task would prove
not to be such an easy one. In order to make things worse, Pool was not
even properly organized on a world level at the time. The World Pool-Billiard
Association (WPA) was then founded, and with its inaugural World
Championship, also the third and last very important integer finally
existed.
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Mr.
André Gagnaux enters the stage!
A few years earlier,
a certain André Gagnaux (SUI) became the new President of the Union
Mondiale de Billard (UMB), the world governing body for Carom. One of his
first actions as president of the UMB was to contact the IOC with the object
of finding out what it would take for Billiards to achieve the long sought
after and ultimate recognition. The IOC informed him, as they had already
in the past, that only if and when all Billiards Sports would be united
under one umbrella organization, would the IOC possibly consider Billiards
for recognition. Whereas an amateur body for Snooker and English Billiards
was in existence ever since back, Mr. Gagnaux, following the IOC
answer, instead elected to contact the World Professional Billiards &
Snooker Association (WPBSA) in order to possibly find a necessary partner.
Perhaps his decision was guided by his knowledge about the WPBSA success
in promoting Snooker, which in Great Britain only could be compared with
huge sports such as Soccer, Tennis and Golf? Perhaps it was also a question
of convenience, since both the UMB and the WPBSA were governed out of Europe?
No matter what, Mr. Gagnaux failed in his attempt to impress on the WPBSA
why it would be so important for them to possibly achieve the IOC recognition,
and what a possible cooperation with the UMB could do in order to further
their own goals.
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An umbrella
organization for all Billiards Sports becomes a reality!
Following the
successful organizing of the first ever WPA World 9-Ball Championships in
, Mr. Gagnaux again decided to contact the WPBSA though, and this time
around he became more successful. In order to fulfill the condition set
by the IOC, the three main disciplines of Carom, Pool and Snooker convened
August 30, at a historic meeting in Bristol (GBR) with the WPBSA as
the host. Never before had representatives of the three divisions been gathered
around one table! As a result it was decided to form the World Confederation
of Billiards Sports (WCBS), an umbrella organization encompassing all Billiards
Sports, and a three-man committee consisting of Mr. Gagnaux for Carom, Jorgen
Sandman for Pool and Mark Wildman for Snooker was appointed in order to
work out a first constitution, to serve as a guideline for this new body
to be formed. The following year and a half was spent on this work, which
was somewhat complicated since the idea was to enable the various disciplines
to work closely together, whilst maintaining their independence. The inaugural
General Assembly of the WCBS was held in Yverdon-les-Bains (SUI) January
25. A board consisting of 9 delegates was elected with three representatives
from each one of the founding members, the Union Mondiale de Billard, the
World Pool-Billiard Association the World Snooker Federation (WSF). The
first WCBS Board of Director's was comprised of the following gentlemen:
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President |
André
Gagnaux
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Switzerland |
Carom (UMB) |
1st Vice-President |
Mark Wildman |
Great Britain |
Snooker
(WSF)
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2nd Vice-President |
Dave Young |
USA |
Pool (WPA) |
General
Secretary
|
Wai Yeong
Chin
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Malaysia |
Snooker
(WSF)
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Treasurer |
Jorgen
Sandman
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Sweden |
Pool (WPA) |
Sports
Director
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Frouse
Saheed
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Sri Lanka |
Snooker
(WSF)
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PR Manager |
Jean-Claude
Dupont
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Belgium |
Carom (UMB) |
PR Manager |
Klaus Dieter
Mayer
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Germany |
Carom (UMB) |
PR Manager |
Yung-Hui
Tu
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Taiwan |
Pool (WPA) |
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Could
Billiards really be considered a sport?
The applications for recognition
by the IOC and membership with the General Association of International
Sports Federations (GAISF) were submitted later on. In October
the WCBS for the first time was invited as observers to the GAISF Congress
& General Assembly in Lahti (FIN). However, the WCBS application failed
to make it into the agenda of the AGM, and therefore the two WCBS representatives
at this meeting, André Gagnaux and Jorgen Sandman, were confined
to listen and learn. When in October of the GAISF AGM took place in
Monte Carlo (MON), the WCBS application was on the agenda. Confident that
the GAISF assembly really could do nothing but the obvious and accept the
WCBS as a provisional member, Gagnaux and Sandman was in for a surprise
though! Led by the President for Judo, who questioned if Billiards really
could be considered a sport, a long discussion got started with many speakers
voicing their opinion on the matter, some in favor and others against. A
proposal was formulated that the GAISF first needed to define what really
constitutes a sport, and finally the GAISF President, Dr. Un-Young Kim,
was left with no other alternative then to apologize for the inconvenience
and table the question for another year. Bearing in mind that the IOC already
a few years before this new set-back had adopted a Swiss definition of Sports
that by a far margin would resolve that Billiards in fact must be considered
a sport, only further suggested that this decision by the GAISF - by now
a part of the Olympic Movement - truly had to be questioned.
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WCBS
finally accepted by the GAISF.
Meanwhile also the IOC had responded
to the application for recognition by stating that the WCBS still was to
new as an umbrella body for Billiards Sports, and that therefore a possible
IOC recognition could not be expected for another few years. The IOC also
recommended the WCBS to apply for membership with the GAISF - "whilst
this is not a prerequisite, the IOC would see favorably on a WCBS membership
with the GAISF." In October of the GAISF Congress & General
Assembly was held in Seoul, Korea, and since now André Gagnaux had
taken ill and was hospitalized, the WCBS delegation was lead by Jorgen Sandman,
who was accompanied by Nigel Oldfield (GBR) and Massimino Del Prete (ITA).
This time around, equipped with the experience following the two failures
from in and, the WCBS had better prepared its case to be presented.
Mainly this was done in form of a glossy brochure titled "Right on
Cue", which was distributed among all of the delegates and that in
a professional way informed the meeting about the WCBS and Billiards Sports.
The WCBS also hosted a cocktail reception for the around 500 attending officials,
and certainly this initiative was welcomed by them all. If it was the brochure
or the cocktail reception, or possibly the new IOC definition of sports
that did the job, we have no way of knowing, but at the AGM in Seoul
the WCBS finally became a provisional member of the GAISF. Any new organization
entering the GAISF must first go through the stage of being a provisional
member for two years, and then eventually be accepted as a full member with
voting rights.
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WCBS
gains IOC Recognition and participation in the World Games.
Again, if
this in turn was what opened the door towards the IOC recognition, or if
the WCBS simply by now, after four years of existence, had proved itself
as the one and only umbrella organization for Billiards Sports in the eyes
of the IOC, we do not know, but all of a sudden the progress went hand-in-hand.
In July the IOC decided to grant the WCBS a provisional recognition
for two years, and in September of the same year the WCBS became a member
of the Association of Recognized IOC International Sports Federations (ARISF).
An application for membership with the International World Games Association
(IWGA) was also filed shortly thereafter, and at the IWGA AGM it was
decided that the WCBS would become a member of this association as of January
1. The IWGA organizes every four years the World Games, and even though
the WCBS now would become a member, this in itself would not automatically
warrant participation at the World Games. In, as new members of the
IWGA, the WCBS did submit its application for participation in the World
Games and also did visit with the organizing committee of the Akita
World Games (JPN). On February 5, the IOC granted the WCBS its Outright
Recognition, and by that it was now once and for all clear that Billiards
Sports is to be treated as one sport among others. Later on in the same
year the GAISF accepted the WCBS as a full member and the IWGA decided to
include Billiards Sports into the program of the Akita World Games.
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The
dream of one man came true in less than 7 years!
From the humble beginnings
in January to all the acceptance and recognition by the end,
the accomplishment of the WCBS must be deemed very impressive. André
Gagnaux, who very much must be credited for initiating that the WCBS at
all was founded and also duly became its first President, had been carrying
this vision already many years ahead of the historic first meeting in Bristol.
He was not the tallest and also very seldom the loudest, but he certainly
was a person that first and foremost would concentrate his efforts on possible
solutions rather than just identifying problems, and also someone that would
not take no for an answer. When he took ill in the second half of he,
as much as his illness would allow, continued to pay attention to all of
what was going on with the WCBS in its attempts to gain recognition. Unfortunately
he never did recover and in February of he passed away. Bearing in
mind the acceptance by the GAISF just a few months earlier though, Mr. Gagnaux
was able to feel the satisfaction of knowing that his dream was now in progress.
The work and the foresight of André Gagnaux will always be remembered
and cherished by the WCBS, and through him the statement that "one
man and one dream is all it takes" will always have a particular significance
for Billiards Sports! Almost on the day two years following his demise,
the IOC Outright Recognition was granted to the WCBS.
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Meeting
with the IOC President.
was going to become an important year for
the WCBS and Billiards Sports not only because of the IOC recognition, but
also due to the participation in two major events - the first ever World
Youth Games in Moscow (RUS) and the Bangkok Asian Games (THA). During a
visit in Moscow by the successor to Mr. Gagnaux as President for the
WCBS, Jorgen Sandman, he met with the President of the Russian Olympic Committee,
Mr. Vitaly Smirnov. Whereas Jorgen had been invited by the Federation of
Billiards Sports of Russia mainly in order to lobby for having the traditional
Russian discipline of Pyramid included into the WCBS family, they also staged
this meeting since Mr. Smirnov is a devoted Pyramid player. Having heard
about the World Youth Games to take place in Moscow the year after, Jorgen
proposed to Mr. Smirnov that Billiards Sports should be allowed as a demonstration
sport. Mr. Smirnov immediately felt that this was a great idea and made
the promise to organize with proper facility and a visit by the IOC dignitaries
during the competition. The WCBS rapidly organized with equipment being
brought to Moscow and also selected a large number of kids to participate,
demonstrating Carom, Pool, Pyramid and Snooker. In order to better promote
Billiards Sports also a number of professionals were invited to perform
during this event, and among them Mike Massey (USA), the perhaps greatest
Trick-Shot performer of all times! Mr. Smirnov kept his promise and the
President of the IOC, H.E. Juan Antonio Samaranch, did arrive not only to
have a look at what the WCBS had to offer, but also to play some himself
and also spending a good hour meeting with a WCBS delegation led by Jorgen
Sandman. At the press conference that followed the IOC President stated
that "the IOC is anxious to include Billiards Sports in the Olympic
Games as quickly as possible, but the WCBS will have to decide which discipline
it would like to include."
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10 medals
at the Asian Games!
In December of Billiards Sports was then included
in the Asian Games for the first time ever. The Asian Games is what the
importance is concerned perhaps second only to the Olympic Games, bearing
in mind the amount of nations involved and the amount of athletes participating.
Like the Olympic Games the Asian Games takes place only every 4 years and
the games were hosted in Bangkok - the capitol of Thailand. In the
years just ahead of the Asian Games a few Thai Snooker players had
become quite successful on the professional circuit of the WPBSA, and especially
one - James Wattana. No doubt it was this success that led the Thai Olympic
Committee to support the inclusion of Billiards Sports, and if added to
this that quite a few Asian countries have celebrated a number of World
Championship titles also in Carom and Pool, the support for this idea was
to be found also elsewhere. Not less than 10 medals were awarded to Billiards
Sports and the participation was a success in many ways - not only for the
WCBS! The participation at the Asian Games in Pusan (KOR) was later
on in a bit of jeopardy, mostly due to financial concerns that the Host
City had, but in the end again Billiards Sports competed for 10 medals,
and most likely the same will be the case in the Asian Games in Doha
(QAT).
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The
WCBS fails inclusion into the Olympic Games with a narrow margin.
It
would appear that one reason to celebrate was followed by another during
the years, and perhaps it would be easy to think that following
the IOC recognition now the purpose and the work of the WCBS would be fulfilled?
Instead it would be more appropriate to state that following all success
now finally the WCBS had been given all the necessary tools it would need
in order to possibly develop Billiards Sports even further. So for instance
the IOC recognition made the WCBS eligible to apply for inclusion into the
Olympic Program, and in fact the first WCBS application - for the Athens
Olympic Games - was submitted in May, almost a year before the IOC
outright recognition! The Olympic charter stipulates though, that an application
must be filed 7 years ahead of the particular games in which a new sport
would like to appear, and also before the final selection of host city for
those games will be made, and the WCBS had already achieved a provisional
recognition. Among 15 other sports that all of them had applied for inclusion,
the Greek Olympic Committee decided to scrutinize five, among them Billiards
Sports. Finally they selected two sports out of the five, with Billiards
Sports ending up as their third choice, and proposed to the IOC the inclusion
of the two. In December , the IOC decided that no further sports are
to be introduced in the Olympic Games, mainly due to the fact that
by then it was known that the preparations for the Athens Games was far
behind schedule and the IOC wanted the Host City to concentrate all its
efforts on catching up rather than having even more sports added.
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Second
application also denied and new IOC policy presented.
In May
the WCBS did submit its second application for participation in the Olympic
Games, and this time for the Beijing Olympic Games. The new application
was not altered with regards to proposed formats or the actual scheduling,
but was rather simply updated with regards to the statistics that would
project a proper picture on what the WCBS and Billiards Sports would represent.
In August of , earlier than ever before, the IOC announced that a decision
had been taken not to add any new sports for the Beijing Games. Whereas
it for sure is positive not to have to lobby a cause for years only to then
lose, the IOC message was of course a negative one. However, the IOC led
by its new President, Dr. Jacques Rogge (BEL), also did advertise a new
strategy with regards to the Olympic Games. From now and onwards all sports
already on the program, as well as all sports aspiring to be included, will
be scrutinized by the IOC and measured with the same tools, This will in
the future enable a situation in which certain sports that are not really
adding any significant value to the Olympic Movement can be replaced by
other and, perhaps, more modern sports that in turn will better promote
the Olympic values. The IOC also advertised its new policy that the Summer
Olympic Games would be governed by the 28 / 300 / 10.500 rule, i.e. a maximum
of 28 sports, 300 events and 10.500 athletes would be accepted at each Olympic
Games. Knowing that there were 28 sports, more than 300 events, and more
than 10.500 athletes in Barcelona, Atlanta and in Sydney, this offers no
real comfort to the 28 sports that are eager to somehow enter the Olympic
Program.
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The
World Games offers comfort.
For as long as the WCBS and Billiards Sports
will not be able to enter the Olympic Games, we will instead have to rejoice
in the fact that our participation in the World Games seems to be fairly
certain. The IWGA decision to include Billiards Sports in the Akita
World Games was received with great pleasure, and it would be fair to state
that we did the most out of the four medals that we were granted for the
event:
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Carom |
16
Men, Single elimination format, 3-Cushion
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Pool |
16
Men and 16 Women, Single elimination formats, 9-Ball
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Snooker |
16
Men, Single elimination format, Snooker
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The participation
of Billiards Sports in the Akita world Games became a great success,
and only shortly after the conclusion of the event, the IWGA announced that
again for the Duisburg World Games the WCBS would be invited to participate
with four medal events. The historic World Games Champions representing
Billiards Sports were Daniel Sanchez (ESP) - Men 3-Cushion, Jeanette Lee
(USA) - Women 9-Ball, Ching-Shun Yang (TPE) - Men 9-Ball and Björn
Hanaveer (BEL) - Men Snooker. Unlike so many other sports from past World
Games, Billiards Sports was successful in attracting a crowd for its competitions,
and in fact the arena was almost sold-out for each and every round of the
four medal events. The only negative aspect of the WCBS participation came
in form of a sudden heart attack that one of the players did suffer. Whereas
the rescuing effort and the treatment that he did receive was fantastic,
and he did recover, it turned out that he was not properly insured. The
bill of close to 50.000 dollars instead was covered by voluntary donations
from all his colleagues, some federations including the WCBS, and through
Akita citizens. Based upon this incident no athlete or official will be
accredited to future World Games unless they will be able to show proof
of proper insurance.
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A domestic
dispute created new worries.
The year was going to become a stormy
one following a domestic dispute within the WCBS. In September of the
WPBSA advertised to the IBSF that it was not any longer interested in a
cooperation with the IBSF, and automatically it also withdrew from the WCBS.
For whatever reason the IBSF failed to share this information with the WCBS
board, and it was only due to rumors that the WCBS finally got wind of the
situation. Having failed to impress on the IBSF the importance of discussing
this new situation, a board meeting was held in Bottrop in March of.
The IBSF representatives, although properly invited, failed to show up for
this meeting. This did not prevent the WCBS from forming a decision to declare
the Snooker component of the WCBS for temporarily vacant though, since it
could be established that the WSF really had not ever existed as anything
more than a cooperation between the WPBSA and the IBSF, and that following
the WPBSA withdrawal would also not ever be founded. The IBSF, not especially
appreciative of this decision, did turn to the IOC Court of Arbitration
for Sports in Lausanne on May 30. The CAS delivered its final award
on January 20, and the WCBS won this case on all counts. Since then
the WPBSA has returned to the WCBS, now as a direct member and in its own
good right, whereas the IBSF still obviously has not yet decided if somehow
they can possibly find another court for its complaint, or if they should
perhaps follow suit and also accept a direct membership with the WCBS, as
they have been offered.
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Other
Multiple-Sport-Events of interest to the WCBS.
Besides what has already
been mentioned Billiards Sports has been included in the South East Asian
Games ever since, and will be so again when the SEA Games will
be organized in the Philippines. In the WCBS, mainly through the efforts
of the WPBSA, did approach the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in an
attempt to be included in the Commonwealth Games. Whereas the WCBS became
accepted as a member of the CGF, Billiards Sports failed to make it into
the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester (GBR). The next Commonwealth
Games will be held in Melbourne, and again Billiards Sports will
not be included. Attempts are now being prepared for inclusion into the
Pan-American Games, the All African Games as well as the Mediterranean Games.
Simply put, the WCBS will intensify its strive to have Billiards Sports
to become a medal event in as many of the established multiple-sports events
of format as possible, both on a regional and a world level. There is little
doubt that this more than anything else will contribute towards making Billiards
sports also more attractive to the Olympic Games, which remains the ultimate
goal of the WCBS.
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The Duisburg World Games.
As already mentioned the WCBS and Billiards
Sports will participate in the Duisburg World Games, and as of right
now all the preparations are ongoing. Some athletes are already qualified
for the four medal events to be competed in, and other qualification events
are still to take place. Like in Akita there will be a 3-cushion event with
16 Men, a 9-Ball event for 16 Men and one for 16 Women, as well as a Snooker-event
for 16 Men. The World Games are centered in and around Duisburg (GER),
and will take place during the time 14th - 24th of July. The Billiards Sports
events will take place in Bottrop, around 20 minutes away from Duisburg
by car, and in the second half of the World Games, July 20-24. All the various
athletes qualified for the World Games will be presented on the WCBS website
and so will also all information of importance, such as how, when and where
tickets can be obtained, accreditation procedures for athletes and officials,
and so. The WCBS will also use the participation in the World Games as the
forum for its next General Assembly. Not only will this provide all the
150 and some federations in the world to come to Bottrop, but it will also
provide all officials involved in Billiards Sports to enjoy the participation
and the very special World Games atmosphere first hand. It can also already
be revealed that both Mike Massey and Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman have
both accepted to perform their beloved shows on a daily basis, at the so-called
World Games Plaza in Duisburg as well as at the Saalbau in Bottrop - the
official arena for Billiards Sports. The World Games has in the past very
been then platform upon which sports such as Taekwondo, Trampoline and Triathlon
have been elevated into the Olympic Games!
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Past
& Present WCBS Board of Directors.
The following persons have served
on the WCBS Board of Directors one or more terms ever since the inauguration:
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Anderson
Ian
Barki Farouk
Chin Wai Yeong
Del Prete Massimino
Ducoff Stephen D.
Dupont Jean-Claude
Ferguson Jason
Gagnaux André
Graus Jean
Marques Henrique
Mayer Klaus Dieter
Oldfield Nigel
Pulsirivong Sindhu
Rittmann Wolfgang
Saheed Frouse
Sandman Jorgen
Shimel Don
Stauch Shari
Tu Yung-Hui
Wildman Mark
Young Dave
Yüksel Faruk
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AUS
EGY
MAL
ITA
USA
BEL
GBR
SUI
NED
POR
GER
GBR
THA
GER
SRI
SWE
USA
USA
TPE
GBR
USA
TUR
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Pool
Carom
Snooker
Carom
Pool
Carom
Snooker
Carom
Carom
Carom
Carom
Snooker
Snooker
Carom
Snooker
Pool
Pool
Pool
Pool
Snooker
Pool
Carom
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Board
Member
Treasurer
General Secretary
Board Member
PR Manager
Board Member
PR Manager
Vice-President
General Secretary
Sports Director
President
Treasurer
General Secretary
President
Board Member
PR Manager
Sports Director
President
Vice-President
Vice-President
Board Member
Sports Director
Sports Director
Treasurer
President
Treasurer
President
Vice-President
Board Member
PR Manager
Vice-President
Vice-President
Treasurer
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Ever since
the inauguration the WCBS has been fortunate enough to enjoy the
support of a number of companies and organizations, once or on a number
of times. The support has been provided in form of financial contributions,
in the organizing and hosting of events, and also in form of providing necessary
equipment for WCBS events. The WCBS is very grateful for the support that
it has received and still does, and we feel that it would be appropriate
to give these companies/organizations due recognition by presenting a list
of their efforts so far:
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Asian
Pocket Billiard Union
Biljardexperten AB
Billiard Congress of America
Brunswick Billiards
Chevillotte Billiards
Dynamic Billard Organisation
European Billiard Congress
Gorina S.A.
Loontjens Biljart
Lou Sardo Products
Saluc S.A.
Wiraka PTE Ltd.
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IOC Meeting
GAISF AGM
World Games
World Youth Games
World Billiard Congress
World Billiard Congress
Barcelona Olympic Games
GAISF AGM
Centennial Olympic Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
World Games
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Lausanne
(SUI)
Seoul (KOR)
Akita (JPN)
Moscow (RUS)
Las Vegas (USA)
Las Vegas (USA)
Barcelona (ESP)
Seoul (KOR)
Atlanta (USA)
Akita (JPN)
Duisburg (GER)
Akita (JPN)
Duisburg (GER)
W. Yorkshire (GBR)
Akita (JPN)
Duisburg (GER)
Duisburg (GER)
Akita (JPN)
Akita (JPN)
Duisburg (GER)
Akita (JPN)
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