Snooker To Be Contested at World Abilitysport Video games In Thailand
The World Skilled Billiards and Snooker Affiliation (WPBSA) is at present delighted to announce that snooker will probably be contested as a part of the World Abilitysport Video games for the primary time in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand this December.
The groundbreaking occasion is organised by World Abilitysport, a brand new physique established following the merger of the Worldwide Wheelchair and Amputee Sports activities Federation and Cerebral Palsy Worldwide Sports activities and Recreation Affiliation. The organisation goals to make sure that everybody with a bodily impairment that wishes to do sport both for leisure or to compete on the highest ranges can achieve this.
With over 1,000 athletes with bodily impairments set to compete throughout 11 sports activities forward of subsequent 12 months’s Paralympic Video games in Paris, it has been confirmed that snooker will probably be contested for the primary time following constructive discussions between the WPBSA and World Abilitysport.
The Video games will probably be hosted by the Sports activities Affiliation for the Disabled of Thailand and run from 3-9 December 2023. It’s deliberate that the snooker occasions will run from 4-7 December, to incorporate a classification day and medal ceremony.
Because the occasion is targeted on athletes with bodily disabilities, entry will probably be restricted to gamers from WDBS Classification Teams 1-5 solely, with a range course of in place to make sure worldwide illustration and acceptable classification groupings.
SNOOKER RECOGNISED
Snooker was a key sport launched by neurologist Ludwig Guttman on the Nationwide Spinal Accidents Centre and Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1944 and was subsequently one of many founding sports activities of the Paralympic Video games again in Rome 1960.
Lately, the WPBSA, by way of its subsidiary organisation World Incapacity Billiards and Snooker (WDBS), has created new alternatives for individuals with disabilities to play snooker competitively, with over 40 recognised occasions staged within the UK and mainland Europe. These have featured gamers from all over the world, with champions topped from India, Hong Kong, Belgium and Poland.
Each the WPBSA and WDBS share the long-term aspiration to see snooker return to the Paralympic Video games and welcome the inclusion of our sport at this main occasion.
“A LANDMARK MOMENT”
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson mentioned: “Snooker’s inclusion at this 12 months’s World Abilitysport Video games represents a landmark second for our sport. In 2015, we shaped WDBS to assist encourage individuals with disabilities to take part in snooker and it has been humbling to fulfill so many gamers who share our ardour for this sport.
“As we glance to proceed our development, to see snooker take its place at a prestigious multisports occasion just like the World Abilitysport Video games is testomony to the achievements of each our staff and most significantly the gamers, and I want everybody on the occasion each success.”
WDBS Chairman Nigel Mawer QPM mentioned: “It is a main step ahead for incapacity snooker and a big alternative to showcase our sport on a global stage.
“I wish to thank everyone who has helped to make this doable, together with our officers, referees and volunteers, in addition to in fact the gamers themselves and their carers or supporters.”
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST
Any gamers who wish to register their curiosity in competing on the occasion are inspired to contact us for additional info.
Please be aware, that solely gamers from WDBS Classification Teams 1-5 are eligible for this occasion.
