credit Micheal Day and TotallySnookered.com
Organisers of the expanding Joy Heyball circuit have released details of their upcoming 2024/25 season, with a series of brand new major events set to be played across 11 countries and five continents.
Heyball – a brand name for Chinese 8-ball pool – is a hybrid cuesport. It is effectively played on a smaller sized snooker table that has napped cloth and snooker-style cut pockets. American pool balls are used, and the object of the game – in simple terms – is to pot either the ‘spots or stripes’ ball set followed by the 8-ball to win a frame.
Having originated in China, the sport is now gaining popularity and coverage worldwide. Several well-known snooker players have recently travelled to the Far East to compete in Joy events, including Mark Williams prior to his victory at the Tour Championship last month. Only this week, there have been images online of both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry with some of the top Chinese 8-ball stars.
In a post on Facebook earlier today, Joy Billiards – a table manufacturer in China and organisers of the tour – posted their global tournament calendar for the next several months, with further events expected to be announced too. A combination of open and invitational entry competitions, there is nearly $3.5 million in total prize money across the campaign.
The circuit is set to visit the USA, Vietnam, Poland, Malaysia, Australia, Slovenia, Morocco, Qater, Indonesia, Singapore and China. New events include continental championships for Oceania, Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as a Champion of Champions and a World Heyball Championship. All these events have both men’s and women’s categories.
The biggest event on the calendar remains as the World Heyball Masters. The 2025 installment is scheduled for March/April and has a $1.7 million prize fund with $700,000 going to the champion.
The 2024/25 Joy Heyball Tournament Calendar:
- July 8-12: American Championship, USA ($116,000)
- July 17-22: International Open 1, Vietnam ($50,000)
- July 25-28: WCBS Championship, Poland ($140,000)
- September 14-19: International Open 2, Malaysia ($50,000)
- October 2-5: Champion of Champions, Australia ($400,000)
- October 5-9: Oceania Championship, Australia ($116,000)
- Date TBC: European Championship, Slovenia ($116,000)
- Date TBC: World Championship, Slovenia ($400,000)
- October: African Championship, Morocco ($116,000)
- December: Asian Championship, Qatar ($116,000)
- December: International Open 3, Indonesia ($50,000)
- January: International Open 4, Singapore ($50,000)
- March-April: World Masters Grand Finals, China ($1,700,000)
Total event prize money in brackets
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