Should snooker be part of the Olympic Games?

[April madness]

Is archery and shooting involving more athletics than snooker?

[Wity]

Archery is, well it used to be very physical, nowadays with the technical advances in bow making it's totally different to using a traditional bow and more akin to the use of a gun which is mainly just about accuracy.
I'd say traditional bows have a place and guns no, but combined as they are with the cross country skiing /shooting events in the winter olympics yes.

Pool probably has more chance of making it into the Olympics than snooker as it's played by more people in more countries but i'd never class any game that is not physically demanding a sport.

[Jack Wood]

come on Wity

Sorry Wity but you can’t seriously be saying that to make a ball ricochet off another, making both balls move in predetermined directions across a twelve foot table, by hitting it once with the end of a bit of wood takes less physical skill than a game of hop scotch?
I am not saying I disagree with you about the original point, in fact I never did.
I always said that snooker should not be an Olympic event because it is not that kind of a sport, but I still think games are things of chance more than skill.

[footygirl]

Well what is the point of Beach Volleyball in the Olympics. Volleyball is already an Olympic sport, so why do we need Beach Volleyball.

Is it just to keep certain nations happy

[Wity]

Yes i am serious Jack. The skill of potting is ones eyes. brain and the coordination of such with the elbow. The physical prowess is negligable.

Wether a game is a game of chance, a game of skill, or involves both it'll never truly be a sport unless there is physical exertion involved as well.

Billiards was never even refered to as a sport till the late 1800's when it got organised rules and such and it's the same historical story with almost any game, in that once it grows in popularity gets competative and organisations emerge to promote it more often than not to give it more credability those organisations decide to call it a sport rather than a game. It's snobbery really.

[footygirl]

But mentally it's demanding, and let's not forget skilfull.

Is bowls physically draining.That is in the Olympics, why should snooker not be in

[Wity]

Earlier i said..

"The Olympics has always been about athletic sports and as such snooker has no place in them, though money rules and if deemed popular enough no doubt the comitees will bend the rules to fatten their own wallets."

I take it back what I should have said is: "The Olympics traditional core events are athletic sports and for the purist games such as snooker etc etc" because nowadays no game is excluded from being a possible entry.

edit..

As long as the right palms are greased.

[missneworleans]

That maybe interesting, but I think nobody will do it!

[Welshsteve]

I think it should be in there, and maybe either be entered by players in the amateur game, or players on the Pontins tour, with the winner gaining automatic entry to the main tour, regardless of whether they have qualified through the pontins events.