"Let's have some fun! I'll see you around 5 at the E7Play Sports'n Fun. Don't be late!" After the phone was hung up, those words caressed my ears on Saturday afternoon when I lied on the sofa watching Netflix for an entire day. My friends' suggestion of a date at the billiard court started to appeal to me when I gave it some thought. I hadn't been playing billiards for many years, and actually I did not have many experiences of playing billiard ball. However, I always have some prejudice toward that kind of place, I could even smell the cigarette smoke as soon as I thought up of the place. However, to stick to the promise, I got dressed and headed to the place.  

Unsound Development in Taiwan in the 80s 

Billiards has been popular all over the world for a long time, and it is kind of a noble sport with an aristocratic atmosphere in Europe. At present, there are countless world-class and professional-level competitions. Not until Bangkok Asian Games, which was held in 1998, listed billiards as an official event, did the billiards development spur in Asia. At the same time, a large number of talents in Taiwan have participated in the competition in succession. With the prosperity of billiards, people who play billiards have increased rapidly, and the sport has gradually become a professional sport. 

However, in the early years, Taiwan's billiards were classified as one of the "eight major industries" in 1986 because of the unsound development of billiards. Some local ruffians and gangsters do nothing every day and often hang around in the pool court to kill the time. Therefore, the billiard court has become a gathering place for unscrupulous elements, and frequent incidents of fighting and gambling occurred. Besides, the most common billiard rooms at that time were located adjacent to an endless row of KTVs, red-envelope cabarets, and saunas. Billiard was seen as a popular trend that flowed out of such seedy and seemingly cultureless areas. That is to say, most people have a relatively negative impression of the billiard ball. However, in recent years, with the opening up of the social atmosphere and the efforts made by people who are interested in it, the billiard ball finally got rid of the bad image of the eight major industries. The Ministry of Education also classifies billiard ball as a kind of sport, which lead to the change of stereotyped bad impression. [1]

E7Play Sports'n Fun 

As me and my friends arrived at E7Play, various entertainment facilities came into our sight. It is an outrageous place for entertainment and games where everyone would be irresistibly drawn. There were billiards, bowling, darts, arcade games, KTV Box, and so on. The place greatly changed my impression of the billiard court. There was no pungent smell, and I saw a wide variety of age groups here, from children to adults, everyone immersed themselves in the laughter. That night, I learned a lot of billiards skills and knowledge from my friends who played the billiards well. I got to know how to make a correct and stable hand bridge, develop a strong pool stance, the tips of accurate and consistent alignment, and a straight and consistent stroke and speed control. It's a precious night that I spend time with my friend and I think I start to get fascinated by this elegant cue sport. 

E7Play Sports'n Fun

Written by  Ecco Wang

Reference:

[1] https://faculty.ndhu.edu.tw/~yyuan/teaching/nineball.htm