Lo Ho-sum will be the first Hong Kong pool player awarded a wild-card entry to next month’s World Pool Masters, but says the threat of a funding cut may see him walk away from the sport for good. Billiards and snooker are among the Hong Kong Sports Institute’s 20 designated Tier A sports, entitling them to world-class facilities at its Fo Tan campus, as well as reasonable financial support for elite athletes. The sport, however, is facing demotion to Tier B status having been dropped by the Asian Games for three consecutive editions. Lo, along with several senior players, said a funding cut will mark the end of their professional careers. “If billiard sports are truly devalued, I believe I will leave the squad,” Lo said. “It’s because there is no way to make a living, let alone training. I have to face reality, I can’t just chase my goal.” Wayne Griffiths, head snooker coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, said Lo was not alone. He said several senior players have already approached him about walking away from the sport. “We have been building these pool players for 10 years to return to Asian Games, I hope they can stay as a Tier A sport to follow their dream of Games medals.” The Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council announced Lo’s wild card entry on Facebook, but in a sour tone admitted their future was uncertain. If cue sports is not included in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, it would lose the Tier A status. Snooker star Ng On-yee warns against demoting elite status The 23-year-old Lo said the World Pool Masters was a dream come true. “I think I might have done well in the Worlds, so they gave me a wild card,” he said. “It’s like a dream because it’s such a prestigious tournament, and no one from Hong Kong has ever been invited.” The 23-year-old Lo will soon finish hotel quarantine after travelling to the UK to compete in the WPA World Nine-Ball Championships, where he finished 17th – Hong Kong’s best performance. Lo said that it was a dream to be invited, but the horror of cue sports’ being demoted lingered. At the age of 15, Lo turned to full-time training on the Fo Tan premises, abandoning his academics after Form 3. “It was a bolt from the blue. I remember waking up in England and seeing the mail about the demotion, and I suddenly felt unmotivated. “When I told the international players about it, they were all stunned. It’s more difficult for me to accomplish better without the Institute’s support, I can’t imagine moving out of the institute.” Lo was the first Hong Kong pool player to reach the podium at the junior Worlds in 2015. That same year, he won a silver medal in the boys’ doubles at the Asian Youth Championships with compatriot Robbie Capito. “In fact, we are adjusting our form to prepare for the 2030 Asian Games, so I don’t understand why we need to be lowered,” Lo said, “We fared well in all the Asian Games we competed in, earning the highest possible scores to match the HKSI’s 10-point benchmark.” For cue sports to retain its Tier A funding hinges on whether they can gain readmission to the Asian Games in 2026. After last featuring in 2010, they will return in 2030 in Doha, but are not included, as yet, in the 2026 edition in Japan. Billiards and snooker were part of the Asian Games four times in a row from 1998 to 2010, with Marco Fu Ka-chun leading Hong Kong’s haul of four gold, three silver and three bronze medals. The World Pool Masters, which takes place from May 5-8 in Gibraltar, features the top 20 players in the world, including defending champion Alexander Kazakis of Greece, as well as four wild card players.
