Mumbai-based billiards and snooker player Devendra Joshi feels the ongoing inaugural cue slam in Ahmedabad will extend its tentacles to other cities including Mumbai. Devendra, who won the world team snooker gold in 2006 and world team billiards gold in 2014, is the technical director of the newly floated five-team league that started on August 19 and will culminate on August 25 at Rajpath Club.
“We took cue from many sports (leagues) and thought we should do something to promote the game. It is a short, crisp, aggressive and attractive format. We have got a lot of positive feedback so far,” he said.
The league is organised by Sportzlive in association with Billiards & Snooker Federation of India (BSFI). Mumbai-based players Faisal Khan and Laxman Rawat are also a part of the league. Ashok Shandilya and Derek Sippy from the city are coaching Gujarat Kings and Bengaluru Buddies respectively.
“The Indian players participating in the league are on the basis of national rankings. We have exceptionally talented players in the city like Ishpreet Chedda. In one or two years more players will be coming up. We have plans to bring the league in different cities and grow it to eight teams. I hope the league comes to Mumbai in future. It needs the set-up infrastructure and lot of investment to make it happen,” he said.
Devendra, who plays now mostly in Asian and World events due to his job engagement — he is the chief manager at Bharat Petroleum — that involves promotion of sports, felt the players have coped well with the new exciting format.
“The players have practiced to adjust to it. Normally the players take their time to take shots after a lot of thinking. Now we have 20 seconds per shot, 10-minute per frame and crowd getting behind it. We have seen only one foul for time so far, it means players have coped well quickly,” added.
Only three snooker games of the best of five in each tie are telecasted live on television. This denies television audience to see two pool matches conducted side by side and relate with the team score. “That is one area under discussion. It is a bit of disconnect there. We have to fit in two and half hours and it is not possible to show pool games simultaneously. But in the final we intend to show five matches live,” explains Devendra.
The league has names like Pankaj Advani, Vidya Pillai, Kamal Chawla, Sourav Kothari, Andrew Pagett, Darren Morgan and English woman Kelly Fisher, but Devendra felt as the league grows it will attract more top players of the world. “As it grows it will attract top snooker players,” he signed off.
