BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Cue sports are in a new phase of development in China and hopefully they can go into another prime, said a senior official of the Chinese Billiards&Snooker Association (CBSA).

Wang Tao, vice chairman and secretary general of the CBSA told Xinhua that despite a dropping number of people playing billiards and snooker, cue sports develop steadily in China.

According to Wang, years ago the total people playing billiards and snooker were around 70-80 million, but as they have more recreational options now, the number of billiards room dropped by 20 percent nationwide and the participants of this sport declined to 50 million.

"Luckily, three competition systems (snooker, Chinese Billiards and 9-ball) were all set, so the impacts were bearable." said the vice chairman on Monday when the World Snooker China Open was concluded.

Now the CBSA is pushing billiards and snooker to enter the 2021 National Games program.

"If they makes their way to the 2021 National Games, it will benefit the sports as a whole," said Wang.

To better promote its sports, the CBSA is considering to hold the China Open in second, third or fourth tier cities as the city of Yushan in Jiangxi province staged both the World Open and also the Chinese Billiards World Championship this year with enthusiastic audiences.

"Watching a professional competition is a happiness for ordinary people. We should stage the tournaments where people most want to watch," added Wang. "Let more people join in staging, watching and playing the games. Hopefully billiards and snooker can march into another prime in China."