by elliott west
Nestled in the suburbs of Washington lies Redmond. Boasting the headquarters of Microsoft and Nintendo, this American city wouldn’t normally be thought to be associated with snooker but if one does some further investigation, you will discover a fantastic snooker club in its midst.
The Empire Billiard club was established in 2014 and is owned by C.C.Yoo. Yoo was previously a restaurant manager for his parents but has put in the hard work to make the club a thriving success after spotting that cue sports were starting to develop in the country. This great establishment houses five nine feet American pool tables, one Chinese eight ball table and three full sized snooker tables.
One customer described their visit, saying
“Went here with my uncle and a cousin visiting from Alberta. I had no idea this place was here. We’ve driven 45 minutes away in the past to find a place to play pool, and never occurred to us there was one so close. Atmosphere is great, the dude running it was great. Price is totally worth it, too. I’d highly recommend this spot.”
Customer
As snooker continues to extend its embracing arms globally, it is encouraging to see some small shoots of the sport starting to grow in the USA with clubs such as the Empire Billiard club installing snooker tables as well as pool in their club. Pool is of course the most popular cue sport in America but through awareness and promotion such as the Pan American Snooker and Billiards Association and various websites, snooker could still evolve as it has done and is doing across many countries globally. This is bearing fruit with various tournaments and local leagues across the towns and cities of this land.
