Pool, the Middle East’s fastest growing indoor game, is getting a major boost during Index, the region’s biggest interiors event taking place in Dubai.

Dozens of visitors, including members of the UAE national team, have been competing in a week-long eight ball tournament with the first prize of a championship standard pool table valued at $5,500.

“We are sponsoring the World Eight-ball Championships, which will be held in the UAE for the next five years, and we are at Index to raise awareness of the game,” said Oswald Behram, marketing manager for Knight Shot, a Dubai-based pool table and accessories company, co-organising the event with Max Interiors.

More than 120 people entered the competition with members of the UAE national pool team on hand to give advice. “There is no doubt that pool is catching on in a big way in the region as it is one of the few games that can be played indoors,” he added. “It is the fastest-growing indoor game in the region.”

The World Eight-ball Championship, with a prize pot of $235,000, will be held in Fujairah in April next year.

Knight Shot’s championship pool and billiard tables assembled in Dubai are truly international using slate from Italy, cloth from Spain and the UK, and wood from Malaysia and Taiwan.

The world's major suppliers of furniture, fixtures and fittings are taking part in Index. Nearly 1800 companies from 60 countries are exhibiting in this year’s event, which closes today (December 7).-TradeArabia News Service