Recent Visitors 4

Ahmedabad Hosts Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships 2026

Ahmedabad Opens Its Doors to Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships

The cue sports spotlight has turned to Ahmedabad, where 144 players from about 42 Commonwealth nations have gathered for the second Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships.

The four-day event is being held at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex from 7 to 10 October. The opening ceremony takes place on 7 October, with competition scheduled from 8 to 10 October.

For India, the tournament carries added importance because this is the first time the Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships are being held in the country. The programme has 10 medal events across five disciplines: English Billiards, Snooker, 10-Ball Pool, Heyball and Blackball. The field is evenly divided between 72 men and 72 women.

The championships are organised by Apex Sports Promotion and hosted by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), with the backing of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) and Commonwealth Sport. WCBS had earlier confirmed Ahmedabad as the host city and said the event would have 10 medal events across the five disciplines. Carom 3-Cushion is also listed by WCBS as a demonstration sport, rather than a medal discipline.

The tournament comes at an interesting point for Indian cue sports. The BSFI, the national governing body for cue sports in India, traces its foundation to 1926. Its centenary year has brought a number of international events to the country, including the Commonwealth championships in Ahmedabad and the World Heyball Championship in Pune earlier this year.

India has a useful starting point from the first Commonwealth championship, held in Mauritius in 2025. Indian players won five medals there: one gold, two silver and two bronze.

Vidya Pillai won the women’s Heyball gold after beating South Africa’s Marina Jacobs in a shootout. Shivam Arora took silver in men’s Heyball after losing 7-9 to Uganda’s Chandiga Caesar. Chitra Magimairaj won silver in women’s 10-Ball Pool. Keerthana Pandian and Anupama Ramachandran added bronze medals in women’s 6-Red Snooker.

Pillai therefore arrives in Ahmedabad as the defending Commonwealth women’s Heyball champion. Arora and Magimairaj also return after winning silver medals in Mauritius. Their performances give the Indian team three players with direct experience of reaching Commonwealth finals.

The international field will make the task harder. England’s Kelly Fisher and Rebecca Kenna, South Africa’s Craig Bouwer, Malaysia’s Lim Kok Leong and Wales’ Darren Morgan are among the names associated with the competition. Kenna won the women’s Snooker title in Mauritius last year, while Bouwer took the men’s 10-Ball Pool gold. Lim Kok Leong was the 2022 IBSF World Snooker champion.

The 2025 championship had players from 36 Commonwealth nations. The Ahmedabad edition has grown to about 42 nations, according to the current event information. Earlier announcements had referred to participation from nearly 46 countries as entries were being prepared, showing how the final field developed as the event approached.

The event also comes as cue sports gain more international activity in India. Pune hosted the 2026 Heyball World Championship in August, with 128 players and a USD 400,000 prize fund. The BSFI has also continued its national competitions in billiards, snooker, pool and Heyball during 2026.

At the pre-event press conference, WCBS Vice President Mubarak Al-Khayarin said, “The Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships represent an important occasion for the sport, and we are delighted to see this year’s edition take place in Ahmedabad, India. Bringing leading cue sports athletes from across the Commonwealth together provides a valuable platform for high-level competition and further strengthens the connections that unite our sport globally. We look forward to an exciting Championships and to seeing the athletes compete at their very best in Ahmedabad.”

WCBS Board Member Grieta Steenkamp said, “We are delighted to welcome the Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships to India and to support an event that brings together players from across the Commonwealth. Championships such as these play an important role in creating opportunities for athletes, strengthening international sporting relationships and continuing to grow the global reach of cue sports. We look forward to an outstanding edition in Ahmedabad and wish all participating athletes the very best for the competition ahead.”

The press conference was attended by Al-Khayarin, Steenkamp, WCBS Anti-Doping Director James Leacy, BSFI President S Balasubramaniam, BSFI Secretary Sunil Bajaj, Gujarat Snooker and Billiard Association President Abhishek Shah, Apex Sports CEO and Founder Shivam Arora, who is also an Indian cue sports player, and other representatives of the sport.

For Ahmedabad, the championships add another international sporting event to a city that has increasingly hosted major competitions. For Indian cue sports, the focus now moves to the tables, where the home players will have three days to turn last year’s five-medal record into a stronger result on home ground.