ISTANBUL/ANKARA - Turkish billiards president Ersan Ercan has turned to the Turkish billiards community with two new developments from his home location. The first news is the building of a new office for the federation, where also tournaments can be organized. There is also an agreement with the government that billiards will be an optional elective at Turkish schools from next year. Mr. Ercan is delighted with that agreement, in which Turkish youth will have more opportunities to get acquainted with billiards. Furthermore, Mr. Ercan spoke about the upcoming tournaments and the current situation and consequences for the billiard calendar.
The Turkish President stated that the situation on the Corona crisis, as in all sectors of the world, is very difficult for billiard companies and billiard room owners. He and his board have investigated what can be done during the epidemic process, but stated that the Turkish federation as a public institution cannot provide financial support.
Mr. Ercan said that the federation made a few decisions for the billiard clubs: ''We are starting to produce a new brand of cloth ourselves, under the name ProMatch, to relieve our hall owners, who are struggling economically because of the crisis. The ‘Pro Match Go' cloth contains 40% wool, it is a very high quality cloth in terms of speed and performance and it will be sold for a very economic price (around 400 Turkish lire, 50 euros per cloth).''
The Turkish federation notes that the prices of imported cloths are putting pressure on billiard salons due to the increase in foreign currency. "In this difficult period, our cloth will be for sale within 1 to 2 months." The second major project is important enough to determine the future of billiards. There is an agreement to introduce billiards sport as an elective to all schools in Turkey. Agreements have been signed for this huge step. The plan is expected to catch up next year. The Turkish billiard chairman will launch the final news at the start of the project.
He also spoke about the billiard calendar in this times of crisis. As everyone knows, due to the outbreak, all international federations, UMB, CEB, EPBF and IBSF, have cancelled or postponed their upcoming activities on their agendas. International tournaments have not been held for over 2 months. The program is not expected to continue until late summer. ''Unfortunately it will not be possible to make a clear tournament schedule until the virus threat has completely disappeared, to return to our normal life. We hope to establish and announce a new 2020 calendar in the summer months.''
As previously announced on Kozoom, the mega European Championship in Brandenburg (with all disciplines) will be played in Turkey in 2022. ''In addition, there is huge news for snooker in Turkey. After last year's World Championship in snooker, we have plans to host a Star Tournament with big players like O'Sullivan, Selby, Trump and Williams. Furthermore, the organization is already preparing for the World Championship three cushion individual in Istanbul, this year from September 30 to October 4. What chances we have that the championship will be held, the upcoming negotiations with UMB president Mr. Farouk Barki must make clear.
For the 2020 calendar of the EPBF (pool federation), the European Championship for women and a Eurotour are on the schedule in November this year. In Antalya, the next European Pool Championship will be held in April 2021 with a 32 tables venue. "For this organization, we have contacts with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Turkey. We will jointly present our project. If accepted, this championship, which will be watched by 600 million people around the world, will contribute significantly to the promotion of billiards in our country.''
Speaking about the construction of the new, ultra-modern office of the Turkish federation, Mr. Ercan reports: ''The project will be completed in Ankara in an area of 1700 square meters, including the federation's office. The building has all kinds of sports comfort, from cafeterias to toilets, separate entrances to players, lots of parkings, 3 minutes away from all 2 to 5 star hotels.''
The new Turkish federation office in construction
Article: Emel Kokcelik Coklu