Lack of tournaments not helping Indian cueists: Yasin Merchant

India’s snooker legend Yasin Merchant blames a dearth of tournaments in the country for lack of champion players emerging in cue sports.

The 50-year-old retired Mumbai cueist was recently honoured by Khar Gymkhana as it named its four-table snooker room after him. At the event he questioned why there had been no champion after Pankaj Advani. The Busan 2002 Asian Games Snooker Doubles gold medalist felt more players are taking up the game but we don’t hear many names besides Advani on the big stage. Lack of competitions and exposure is robbing players of the opportunity to improve and be competitive at the highest level, he said.

“Except Pankaj, we don’t hear  of anyone else making waves. It’s a good thing for Pankaj, but what about others? Yes, many more players are playing, and the depth is increasing, but we need more   players performing at the top, which is not happening at the moment. Something is missing. We no longer have enough tournaments in India. If you don’t compete, you wont improve much,” he said.

“In my day, we had a tournament every 15-20 days. In Mumbai alone there were so many tournaments. But now somehow, they have dried up throughout country,” he added.

However, the three-time national snooker champion, who now coaches at Khar Gymkhana was optimistic about the future if things improve. “We have many promising players coming up. In Khar Gymkhana alone we have Sparsh Pherwani, Krish Shetty, Nikhil Saigal and Ishpreet Chadha. Ishpreet is talented and hardworking and gave Advani close fights in a couple of  matches last year. Faisal Khan and Rahul Sachdev are also good. I can coach up to a certain point, but after that it is up to them to take  themselves to the next level. For that, they have to practice hard and play many tournaments,” he said.

“Aditya Mehta has done well at professional level, Sachdev has shown the quality. So you have some quality players but they haven’t got a breakthrough yet. One national title and things change for you,” he asserted.

The proud winner of Arjuna Award and Shiv Chattrapati Award in 1991 felt that the recently organised Cue Slam has taken snooker into drawing rooms but wasn’t too sure about its immediate impact. “Let’s wait and watch whether it has done good. Getting to TV is a positive sign and through it getting to drawing rooms. We need more tournaments where juniors can participate; we need professional academies with coaches from outside. Get players to play outside. If players will get beaten outside they will get stronger,” he said.  

Merchant was the first professional snooker player from India, but there aren’t many professionals in India now. “The late Shyam Shroff (a former great) in Khar Gymkhana made me believe I can be a professional and I gave it a shot. I did reasonably well and would have done more had I stayed on in the UK. Currently, we have only one professional in Aditya.  

Staying throughout the year to play in tournaments and train in the UK is an expensive proposition. You have got to have backing or be financially well equipped,” he reasoned.

Merchant said he is willing to coach anywhere but only during his free time. “I am retired, I don’t compete or practice to compete. I have lost the will to work hard. I am now into coaching at Khar Gymkhana, but only during my free time. I can go anywhere to coach, but only on my holiday and after finishing work,” said the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association Grade 2 coach.