German billiards champ behind the 8-ball: suspended for doping.

Baseball player do it.  Football players inject it.  Track stars thrive on it.  Tennis players test positive for it.  Even horses and dogs try to get an edge.  Why not billiards?  Why not try to really put some real English on that break?  Yep, use a little dope with your chalk.

Note that Buescher tested positive for a masking agent, and not for EPO.  Interesting that he 'might' be using EPO.  Beta-blockers or Adderall would seem more like billiards style doping.

The first billiards player to  be suspended for a doping infraction comes out of Germany...  The International Herald Tribune with the story.

Germany's first case of doping in billiards was announced Monday after national champion Axel Buescher tested positive for an EPO masking agent.

Buescher's positive test came at November's German championships, where he captured the carom billiards title, the German Billiard Union said.

Buescher said the masking agent was in prescription medicine he failed to have approved.

The Union suspended Buescher for one year and stripped him of his title after he passed on his right to have the "B" sample tested.

EPO is a blood booster most closely associated with endurance sports, such as cycling, where it has played a central role in several Tour de France scandals.

Guess Buescher had better get a cue...before they rack him!