Billiards, chess endorsed to International Olympic Committee

MANILA, Philippines — If plans don’t miscarry, billiards and chess making the 2024 Olympic calendar in Paris, France could strengthen the Philippines chances of snaring its first ever gold in the quadrennial event.

This came after both the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) and the Federacion Internacionale des Echecs (FIDE) have launched separate campaigns for inclusion in Paris.

Filipinos are strong in billiards and have produced world men’s champions in Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan among others and a women’s champion in Rubilen Amit.

Phl was also bannered by Wesley So, a world chess championship contender who once ranked second in the world, before he played for the US team.

Last week, FIDE announced it would propose that rapid and blitz formats of chess be staged at the Games and has launched a campaign supporting its bid while the WCBS has teamed up with the Federation Francaise de Billard, France’s governing body of billiards, to launch their campaign last December after failing to make the cut in the 2020 program in Tokyo, Japan.