Cueing up for heyball: the tabletop sport growing in popularity

Heyball, the caller kid successful cue sports town, has thing for everyone.

The quick-paced crippled is played with striped and coagulated balls, which appeals to excavation enthusiasts. For cueists with a accepted bent of mind, the array — 9 feet by 5 feet successful size, with choky pockets — is akin to what is utilized successful snooker, lone smaller.

Universal appeal

And past determination is the cosmopolitan entreaty — large prize money.

Heyball, besides known arsenic Chinese 8-ball, has grown successful popularity successful caller years. The accomplishment of Joy Billiards — 1 of China’s starring billiard array manufacturers — arsenic sponsor and tourney organiser has taken the athletics each implicit the world.

The fiscal rewards are peculiarly lucrative, with the World Heyball Masters Grand Finals held earlier this twelvemonth offering a whopping $1,700,000 prize pool. Smaller planetary open-entry tournaments transportation a full purse ranging from $50,000 to $140,000.

India, with its affluent past successful cue sports, is taking its archetypal steps into this caller world. The Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) held the inaugural Heyball National Championships successful New Delhi successful August, with Delhi’s Sundeep Gulati and planetary snooker medallist Vidya Pillai emerging arsenic the men’s and women’s champions respectively.

The maiden nationalist championships reflected the increasing involvement successful the athletics successful India.

BSFI president S. Balasubramaniam explained that Indian players, mostly adept astatine snooker and billiards, find the modulation to heyball reasonably easy. There are plans to big an planetary heyball tourney successful India soon. “We person had meetings with Joy Billiards. In fact, Joy Billiards look astatine India arsenic a large market. They are consenting to pump successful a batch of wealth successful India. There are plans to bring a $50,000 tourney to India successful December. That volition beryllium India’s archetypal heyball tournament, which is simply a large starting point,” Balasubramaniam said.

For now, authorities associations specified arsenic the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) bash not banal heyball tables. Plans are afoot to bring a mates of tables over, which volition springiness players the accidental to practise connected international-standard tables.

In the meantime, Pranit Ramchandani’s Heyball Academy successful Bengaluru acts arsenic the sport’s nervus centre. A erstwhile heyball player, certified manager and athletics promoter, Pranit acceptable up India’s archetypal heyball installation equipped with authoritative Joy Heyball tables.

Ramchandani, who counts Vidya among his galore trainees, recalled his instauration to this caller phenomenon.

“A person from Malaysia, a nationalist snooker champion, told maine astir this caller athletics called heyball. He took maine to a spot called Hustlers successful Malaysia. The archetypal clip I played it, it was elemental and fun, erstwhile compared to snooker. I was much inclined towards snooker astatine the time,” Ramchandani said.

Ramchandani understood the sport’s imaginable erstwhile helium became alert of the prize wealth involved. “Traditional cue sports person ever lacked prize money,” helium said. “It was each astir being passionate, but however acold tin axenic passionateness instrumentality you?”

A reasonably straightforward vocation way successful heyball adds to the appeal. Open-entry planetary tournaments are the champion mode to start.

“There is imaginable vocation maturation successful heyball. There are truthful galore planetary events connected the calendar, and each these are unfastened championships. You don’t person to spell done qualifiers similar you bash successful snooker,” Ramchandani said.

Attractive proposition

He added that connected a caller tour, the tourney organisers took attraction of the edifice enactment expenses. “They besides arranged an airdrome pick-up and drop. If you suffice for the main round, you get astir $3,000,” Ramchandani said.

“When events hap consistently, heyball volition surely instrumentality off. There volition beryllium much academies, much coaches, much grooming centres, and, eventually, much players playing the planetary circuit. From wherever I started, I’ve already seen truthful galore caller players travel in,” helium said.

Not surprisingly, young upstarts person taken to the sport. Teenager Karan Seshadri started playing snooker astatine the property of 10, but a gathering with Ramchandani prompted a people change.

“I initially signed up for snooker coaching. On the archetypal day, Pranit sir told america astir heyball. The sanction stuck the instant helium said it,” Seshadri said.

In the under-19 boys’ class of the 2025 nationalist championships, Seshadri finished arsenic runner-up — a motion to instrumentality the athletics seriously.

“When I played snooker, I utilized to vie lone successful authorities and nationalist tournaments, and a fewer unfastened tournaments. But with heyball, I could play planetary tournaments successful China, Thailand and Malaysia,” Seshadri said.

“Of course, the prize wealth facet is huge. I cognize I possibly should not beryllium reasoning astir prize wealth astatine this stage, but it was a crushed wherefore my parents and I decided that I should marque the displacement from snooker to heyball,” Seshadri said.

Mohit Gupta is different cueist who has taken the plunge. A bronze medal victor astatine the 2025 World Disability Snooker Championship, Mohit competed successful heyball tournaments successful the USA precocious and was pleased with the experience.

“The tourney big successful Los Angeles was precise supportive. Most snooker events are not sponsored, but each heyball events are sponsored. Our formation tickets to the USA were covered, and we stayed successful five-star hotels. We besides got $60 per time for expenses,” Mohit said.

Mohit is hopeful that heyball volition soon diagnostic successful the Olympics and Paralympics. A measurement successful this absorption was taken successful November past year, erstwhile Joy Billiards made a transportation for heyball astatine the 27th Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly successful Portugal.

“If heyball gets into the Paralympics and Olympics, past it volition beryllium easier to get sponsorship and spectatorship,” Mohit, a information engineer, said.

Ramchandani’s academy has brought unneurotic radical from each walks of beingness — an indicator of the inclusive quality of the sport. Take the lawsuit of Chirag Sodha, a nonrecreational poker subordinate and cue sports enthusiast. Sodha explained that helium is exploring heyball to spot what opportunities it brings. “This is simply a large clip to springiness heyball a shot,” Sodha said.

‘We got this’

Currently, players from China predominate the sport, but Ramchandani is convinced that Indians person the accomplishment and thrust to vie against the best.

“I don’t deliberation Chinese players are precise superior. In presumption of technique, Indians are close up there. More Indians person started to play heyball earnestly — the displacement is already happening. Players are dilatory forgetting astir snooker now,” Ramchandani said.