I'm not used to replying to publications from the Korean PBA billiards organization, but for once I should allow myself to make an exception. Glenn Hofman, the Dutch billiard player, says in a message that I have to stop lying. That it's not the truth that he had made a promise to his team SIS Schoonmaak in The Hague to play another year longer. He did not and he had the right to leave. We are just speaking about one of the not really important posts published by a small of the PBA (Kimchi) players, but it is symptomaticly of the times in which we live now in our beloved sport.
I only had a short interview with his team leader and sponsor, in which they said he was speaking about a longer stay and they planned to play with the same, strong team. And that they were not happy with the way Hofman announced that he would leave the team.
The other part of the interview was about the new transfer and that they were very happy in The Hague with the new leading player instead of Hofman, Eddy Merckx.
I like to stay far away from the verbal war between PBA/Kimchi and UMB/Kozoom, but apparently, the poisonous arrows are now fired on other Kozoom employees. For the time, I will only write about UMB tournaments and national competitions, as long as the PBA has not officially launched a calendar with official tournaments and names of their players. And as long as we all know nothing about consequences, or even better the compromises to come and make us happy.
My first reaction was: Who is Glenn Hofman? Not really one of the top guns in the world, to tell me how to write my articles and interviews? And why doesn't he blame or ask his team leader or sponsors to tell him they were lying in the interview? But most of all, it is real sad, it shows what happened to us in the past months.
This is just one little example to deal with in the new era. How it has driven people apart in a very short time. Glenn Hofman and I were good billiard friends, we had very good times together at tournaments and matches. I was and I am a great fan of his talent, he was one of my favorite players. But apparently, the fight between the UMB and the new Korean PBA organization has set us up against each other. How bad, how terrible for all people who love billiards?
I sincerely hope that all players who will join the PBA will be very successful and made the perfect choice for themselves. I wish him many lucky years. And please, focus on our wonderful billiard sport instead of making a campaign against UMB and Kozoom.
Let's enjoy our sport again, stop this war please.
Frits Bakker