PHOTO: Billiards is More Than a Bar Game

In Croatia every village has different rules, but with professionals they are clear. They are known worldwide, said EU champ Putnik.

ZAGREB, CROATIA - Croatians really love billiards, which can be noticed in every place across the country. There is no café bar without a green table, where dozens of the game’s lovers test their strengths. However, the fact is that most of these fans do not know the rules of the game, like they do not know that billiards is played professionally as a part of the Croatian Olympic Committree, and that Croatia has a European champion in the sport, Ivica Putnik.

“Many who know me watch snooker and ask why they never see me there. In order to give them idea of the difference between snooker and pool billiards, I ask them if they have ever seen Janica Kostelic on the ski jumps. Besides the table and cues, everything is different” said Ivica Putnik in his club “Mosconi”, which gained its name from a great billiards player.

Snooker is played by only three countries in the world, whilst pool is played by millions in 60 or so countries. Pool billiards can be divided into: eight-ball, nine-ball and straight pool, and each of them is equally exciting and has different rules.

“In Croatia there are different rules in each village, and with professionals they are clear. They are known in Asia and America. The popular eight-ball is played in Croatia. It is not true that the last (black) ball needs to be sunk into the pocket where the preceding ball sunk. The player must announce where they will sink it, just like all of those prior to that” explained the pool billiards enthusiast.

The most complicated game is certainly straight pool, which is played with 15 balls. When the player sinks 14 of them, the 15^th remains where it is, and the other 14 are placed back into the triangle. The player must sink the remaining 15^th ball, and at the same time break the remaining 14. The game continues and the person to win between 100 and 150 points wins. It sounds quite complicated, but that it why it is interesting to people.

As far as nine-ball is concerned, professionals like it because it is dynamic, and demands a lot of thinking. The game is played with nine balls, numbered one to nine, and you must sink them in that order. The most interesting thing is that one player can sink the first eight and then miss the ninth, allowing his opponent an easy victory.

“There have been cases where a player would sink eight balls, then miss the ninth which remained near the pocket. This means that there is an energy in the game, as well as dynamics, and I am happy that in the last five years the number of clubs has increased a lot. Before there were no serious clubs in Zagreb, and now there are nine, and over 200 players participate in Croatian championships” claims Putnik, whose Mosconi club has been champion for three years.

In the world this game has been popular for half a century, and the strongest players come from Asia, where it is most widespread, and Europe. Until five years ago the Americans were prime, but the large investments and huge popularity in these two old continents have reached them. As far as the competition is concerned, it is similar to tennis.

“You play elimination, from the fist round to the finals, and sometimes there have been 256 players at the tournament. Like in tennis, there are tours that bring more or less points, which is then calculated in the final rankings” explained Europe’s best player.

This is why it is such a great success for Croatia. Such a small country, in which the conditions are nowhere near the rest of the “billiard world”, and we can brag about first place in Europe.

However, he will not stop there, because Ivica Putnik still plays professionally and does not intend on stopping fast, and with that he brought Croatia’s best hope to train with him in Zagreb. Bozo Primic is in question, an 18 year old who won first place in Croatia during his first senior season.

“I came to Zagreb about six months ago to train with Ivica Putnik, and to travel to tournaments more easily. I have been playing billiards since 12 or 13, and my father helped me a lot with that, who also played, but as an amateur. We had tables at home and I practiced a lot, and when my father saw how well I played, he enrolled me at tournaments, and that is how it started” said Bozo. Just to show how demanding billiards is, he said that he trains at least four to five hours a day!

Take a look at the photo gallery: Billiards the Croatian Way.