Billiards making a comeback in Cuba despite hard times

Students play pool at a billiards academy in Havana, Cuba Feb 17, 2025. REUTERS/Norlys Perez

Billiards are making a comeback in Communist-run Cuba as men and women take to tables in private bars and clubs, while fans hope someday the game will be officially recognised as a sport.

Billiards was banned along with poker after Fidel Castro's 1959 Revolution because of its association with US mob-run casinos and dictator Fulgencio Batista.

But after the fall of the Soviet Union, tables began to appear in hotels, then venues and homes, although gambling remains taboo in the country.

"If the Sports Institute were to promote a national federation, it would be excellent, because there is plenty of talent here," said carpenter Francisco Sosa, a former billiards player before the revolution.

Sosa, 78, has installed four pool tables in his home in the Cerro municipality of Havana where he teaches the game to all comers, young and old, and male or female.

Sosa built three of the tables from scratch -- no easy task, he said in a country of scarcity.

"Getting supplies is a big headache," he said.

The lack of basic materials such as wood to make the tables, or cloths and cues for practice affects billiard players at a time when recreational options are scarce in the country, given an economic and energy crisis, he said.

Nayelis Guzman, one of the outstanding adolescents from the Cerro Sports Academy, said that she has made great progress in learning billiards thanks to "Professor Sosa".

"I have been playing billiards for approximately two years ... and my dream is to represent Cuba in an international event," the young woman said, pointing at a group of balls before knocking them into the pocket.