-Tell us, please, how and when the idea of creating Ukrainian billiards Strila was born?
-The idea of creating a new billiards game came to me back in 2015. By then I had extensive experience playing Pyramid, Snooker and Pool. And all the pyramid games seemed to me rather monotonous compared to the world types of billiards. Therefore, having extensive experience in scientific and engineering work, I set myself the task of creating an optimal game on pyramid equipment, which would be very spectacular, varied and would require significant technical and tactical skills from the player.
In the development process, a synthesis was made from all world types of billiard games, and also added its own unique element (carom in Strila), which is not used in any billiard game in the world.
In this way, the game on the pyramid table was born, which absorbed the advantages of all billiard varieties, namely:
1) complexity and excitement of hitting the target and aiming balls, as in the Pyramid;
2) need to hit specific consecutive balls, and hence the possibility of setting snookers (masks), spectacular tactical struggle and high requirements for positional play, as in Snooker and Pool;
3) The need for a high understanding of the geometry of the table and the game from the sides, as in Carom.
-What has been done for the development of Ukrainian Strila Billiards?
-At the beginning of 2023, I finished developing the rules of Strila billiards and decided that such a game requires a special set of colored balls with given parameters. As we know, the best billiard ball manufacturer in the world is the Belgian company Aramith, so I asked the specialists of this company to produce experimental sets of colored balls made of Aramith Premier resin with a diameter of 67 mm and a weight of 266 grams. These balls, in my opinion, are the most controllable and at the same time do not require the replacement of existing billiards equipment, namely billiards tables and billiards cues.
The specialists of the Aramith company kindly responded to my request and already in March of this year we started testing the new balls and rules of Strila billiards.
In these tests, I was helped by masters of sports on the Pyramid Evgen Talov and Kostyantyn Kulyk, and vice president of the Federation of Billiard Sports of Ukraine Yuriy Lyashenko. I am very grateful to these people.
In the process of testing, the rules of Strila billiards, as well as the varieties of Rapid Strila and Blitz Strila, which are in effect at the moment, were drawn up.
By the way, you can familiarize yourself with the rules of Strila billiards on our website strila.pro. In addition, this site has contact details, which billiard fans can use to contact the Strila Billiards team and ask their questions.
Already in June, we held the first blitz tournament in Strila billiards, in which some of the best players of Ukraine took part, namely Dmytro Bilozerov, Andriy Rodionov, Bohdan Rybalko, Vladyslav Kosogov, Yevhen Talov, Kostyantyn Kulyk, Bohdan Shugaley and others. All players rated the game itself very highly, as well as the Strila billiards balls.
We have now organized the Strila Billiards League, the final of Round 1 of which was held recently in the Triumph billiards club (Dnipro).
You can watch all Strila billiards videos on the Strila Billiards YouTube channel. On this channel, we regularly show live games and also share other interesting videos related to Strila billiards. There you can also watch a video on the rules of Strila billiards.
We also have Instagram and TikTok – strila_billiards and a Telegram channel – Strila Channel, where we share interesting moments and news of Strila billiards.
-What are the plans and prospects for the development of Ukrainian billiards Strela?
-I dream that Ukrainian Strila billiards will become an international sport. And for this, the highest standards must be set for all aspects related to the game, from billiards equipment and the level of broadcasting to the behavior and dress code of the players.
So far, we are only at the beginning of this path, but there are already considerable successes in these directions.
In terms of billiards equipment, as I said before, we play with Aramith Premier 67mm colored ball sets for Strila – these are the highest quality balls.
In addition, we play on DINARIS billiard tables, namely the latest development of these legendary manufacturers DINARIS Edelweiss 2023.
This model takes into account all the years of experience of specialists, and I can say with confidence that these are the best billiard tables in Ukraine. They are installed in the great Triumf billiard club in the city of Dnipro. This is a professional sports billiards club, in which high standards of billiards are maintained both among the organizers and among the players.
Currently, Triumf billiard club will hold regular tournaments within the Strila Billiards League.
In addition, by the end of the year, it is planned to hold an all-Ukrainian tournament with television image quality, to which the best players of Ukraine will be invited.
So watch Ukrainian Strila billiards, play Ukrainian Strila billiards.
Glory to Ukraine!
Press service of FBSU