Former Asian Billiards champion Sourav Kothari is excited to be a part of Gujarat Kings franchise in the Cue Slam, which is set to finally kick off on August 19 in Ahmedabad. The five-team league will be played until August 25. The teams from New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad have been christened as Delhi Dons, Chennai Strikers, Gujarat Kings, Bengaluru Buddies and Hyderabad Hustlers.
Sourav said, “All the sports are having their commercial leagues. It’s a brilliant format that is great for the players, who are talented but are unable to make the cut. Like cricketers benefited with Indian Premier League, the billiards players can do the same,” said.
The national champion was present in Mumbai on Wednesday and was unveiled by Gujarat Kings, who will be playing the first edition Cue Slam promoted by SportzLive Entertainment. “It will be shown live on TV and like Kabaddi has been transformed, even our sport will be. In Ahmedabad, there have been tremendous preparations for the league and I am really excited for the league to kick-off,” says the Kolkata cueist, adding, “Mumbai, like other cities, has escalating talent but the youth here invests more time in snooker.”
The 32-year-old Kothari clinched his second National Billiards Championship in 2016. He had a purple patch in the season defeating Indian compatriot Pankaj Advani in the IBSF World Championships and went on to make the final before losing to Peter Gilchrist.
In the same Olympic year, he became the ninth billiards player to win the Arjuna Award joining the league of Pankaj Advani, Subhash Agarwal and six others. “Winning the award was getting a monkey off my back. I feel much more relaxed joining the big league. It is a culmination of all my efforts,” he said.
Speaking on his rivalry with 16-time World Champion Advani, he says, “Our rivalry is sweet. It’s a gentlemen-like rivalry in this game, we are bunch of people with easygoing attitude. But on the table, the game is ferocious because mentally, there is a lot of pressure.”
It all started for the ace cueist in 2002 when he represented India in the Under-21 World Championships and his approach has been quite firm since then. “My father was the world champion and I have grown up watching him play the sport religiously. He has taught me a lot and it reflects on my career. The sport is difficult to pick and equally technical. You need a lot of mental strength. I am passionate about it and love being a part of it,” he asserts.
“The sport was unceremoniously removed from the Asian Games. We have been appealing to the federation to bring it back. There has to be a huge effort to get it back on the list. These are opportunities for players to shine,” he said about billiards being removed from Asian Games 2010.
