Pool halls now popular with women<\/p>\n
Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Wearing a cream head scarf, or jilbab, Paramitha, 22, stares
\nintently at the balls racked in front of her. After a few seconds
\nof concentration, a loud crack is heard and the spheres roll to
\nthe corners of the billiard table.<\/p>\n
\"What a pity, none have gone in!\" Paramitha, a student of a
\nprivate university, exclaims.<\/p>\n
Her friend, Palupi, 23, approaches the table, picks up a cue,
\nand rubs it with chalk. After Palupi plays her turn, Paramitha
\nplays hers and the two friends continue until all the balls are
\nsunk.<\/p>\n
Such scenes of young Muslim women playing billiards in parlors
\nare now commonplace in the traditional city of Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The fact that this no longer raises eyebrows is indicative of
\nhow successfully the game has managed to throw off its negative
\nimage. Up until not long ago, billiards was connected with the
\ndark and seedy world of prostitution, premanisme (thuggery), and
\ngambling. Not a place for a student or a professional woman to
\nlet off steam.<\/p>\n
\"Billiards is now perceived as a recreational sport, good for
\nrelaxation,\" Palupi told The Jakarta Post one evening.<\/p>\n
According to Welli Chandra, Sport Manager of Q Club billiard
\ncenter here, negative perceptions of billiards originated from
\nwhere the game came from. In America, billiards was often
\nassociated with fighting, gambling, and commercial sex
\noperations.<\/p>\n
Before its recent renaissance, billiards was generally played
\nin smoky pool halls and bars and the 15-ball version of the game
\nused to require the presence of scorers, usually women.<\/p>\n
\"To attract the players' attention, score girls often wore
\nsexy dresses and behaved provocatively as well. The more sexy a
\nscore girl was, the more she was wanted by players and thus the
\nmore tips she received,\" Welli said. Many score girls were also
\ncommercial sex workers, which explained why the game had been
\nconnected with prostitution.<\/p>\n
Many players used to bet on the result of matches -- a reason
\nfor another of billiards' names, \"pool\", which refers to the pool
\nof bets made on the game. Fights often occurred because of bet-
\nrelated quarrels, Welli said, which did not enhance the game's or
\nthe players' reputation.<\/p>\n
\"However since that time, perceptions have turned 180 degrees.
\nPeople now see billiards as a clean, recreational sport and more
\nand more young women are beginning to join the mushrooming
\nbilliard clubs in the city,\" Welli said.<\/p>\n
The negative perception of the game, according to Welli, began
\nto change in early 2000, when entrepreneurs worldwide began to
\nestablish classier billiard clubs.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the nine-ball or eight-ball version of the game
\nhas became more popular -- which means the presence of a \"score
\ngirl\" is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n
\"As a result, billiard courses are also mushrooming in the
\ncity,\" said Welli, adding that televised billiard games had also
\nchanged people's attitudes toward the game.<\/p>\n
This change of perception has been followed by an increase in
\nthe number of female billiard players in the city. The Q Club,
\nquick to eye a business opportunity, encouraged this trend by
\noffering special training for women players -- the Female Fun
\nCourse -- which began a year ago.<\/p>\n
\"We are offering free instruction. And the response has been
\nincredible. We now have some 250 female members in the club,\"
\nSatni 'Negro' Satu, Q Club's Marketing Manager, said.<\/p>\n
The club, Negro says, has also opened special hours for women
\nplayers every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from noon, complete
\nwith chilled-out pop music.<\/p>\n
\"Of the 20 tables we are offering, almost all are always
\noccupied during these special hours for women,\" Negro said.<\/p>\n
During the last six months, five new billiard clubs have begun
\nto offer a similar service for women.<\/p>\n
And it seems that as more women join the game, the tidier the
\nclubs get. Older billiard clubs -- Galeria Billiard and Perdana
\nBilliardare -- are now renovating to accommodate the increasing
\nnumber of female players.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pool-halls-now-popular-with-women-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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