Billiards is one of the most colorful indoor sports. The greenboard with the multicolored balls on it looks truly eye-catching. Players also need Pool Cues to take part in this sport. The colorful balls are also termed as ‘pool balls’; the logic being the pocket sport in USA is commonly known as ‘pool’.

The balls are available in sparkling hues like blue, crimson, yellow, lilac, orange, green, maroon and few very interesting blend of balls. The arrangements of balls comprise white and blue, white and orange, white and crimson, white and yellow and white and lilac. The bright balls stand out truly well on the green-colored table. The weights of the balls also vary. Each ball has a number. Single-colored balls are called ‘solids’ and the two-colored balls are called ‘stripes’. The numbering of the balls is done according to hues. The yellow balls are numbered as one, stripe balls having blue and white arrangement carry number ten whereas the arrangement of white and green balls has number fourteen. The balls have various names based on the hues. The name given to the white ball and the yellow ball or the white ball pointed by a black dot is ‘cue ball’. The white ‘cue ball’ is used by the first player while the yellow ball or the white dotted ball is used by the second player. The balls for novice players are pointed with target rings. The novice can judge the angle soundly where the ball or balls should be hit. This is not required for the professional players as they can judge the weight of the balls and hit the balls at exact angles.

The balls are held in stock in a ball rack when the sport is not being played. In carom sport the balls continue to stay on the board. While a competition of pocket goes on, the balls falling through the pockets are collected through the channel to be replayed. Earlier, the balls were prepared from wood or clay and even ivory. But the ivory balls were not used by the common players as they were very costly. Nowadays, best quality polyester and acrylic or Phenolin resin are used to manufacturethe balls. The balls can endure hard shots and they do not break off or crack.

The most played match is the 8-ball game. It has gained such a high fame that to a novice a match signifies 8-ball game. Actually, it is one of the many sports played. The games have two wider segments carom sport and pocket sport. The carom sport is played on pool boards without pockets. Three balls are essential in this type of game. Here the player tries to contrive his cue ball in such a way so that he could ‘carom off’ his opponent’s balls, as per demand of the match. Pocketmatch is played on a six-pocketed board. In this match as per the regulations of the match, the players aspire to pocket the balls into the pockets of the pool board.

Cue pool games has quite a few varieties, like snooker, 8-ball pool- one pocket, 9-ball pool etc. The basic necessities are the same, but the rules, objectives and even the terminology of each is different. It is an extremely interesting and challenging indoor game and requires a lot of patience. Persons, who like to play indoor sports, should certainly try out any one of the variations.

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Tags: Ball Rack, Billiards, Black Dot, Colored Balls, Colorful Balls, Cue Ball, Greenboard, Hues, Indoor Sports, Lilac, Novice Players, Number Fourteen, Pool Balls, Pool Cues, Professional Players, Solids, Sport Balls, Sport In Usa, Target, Yellow Balls

by Sporting on December 30th, 2009 | RSS | trackback