Kolkata: Top Indian cueist and former Asian Billiards champion Sourav Kothari lambasted the officials of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) for their ‘petty politics’ that’s hurting the prospect of the sport in India.
“It’s really unfortunate that we don’t have the infrastructure and facilities for the sport to bring up talent and nurture them due to petty politics and shortsightedness of the officials,” Kothari told SportsCrunch on the sidelines of the announcement of the second Bengal Premier League 2017 organised by the West Bengal Billiards Association at the Saturday Club on Tuesday.
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The tournament, which will start on June 20 and conclude on June 25, will feature 10 teams along with a couple of marquee players in Kothari and Brijesh Damani who will turn out for RKG Snooking Champs and Cue Magicians respectively. The total prize money is Rs 9.5 lakh.
Kothari, meanwhile, called for Sports Ministry supervision of the cue sports bodies. “There should be sports ministry intervention as there is no dearth of money from the government level,” Kothari said.
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The Arjuna awardee cueist however hailed state sports minister Aroop Biswas for latter’s efforts to push the game to the rural areas and encourage more participation. “I will probably meet Mr Biswas and discuss the state of affairs with him soon…He is the right man to bring it on track,” Kothari felt.
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The 32-year-old cueist vented his ire on billiards and snooker getting dropped from the Asian Games. “How can this sport be unceremoniously relegated from Asian Games? It is unthinkable,” he signed off.