BENGALURU: Despite football madness, cue sports has carved a niche for itself in France. The country has adopted its own style of the disciplines, and certain variations are popular amongst French. But billiards, the English style, is certainly not, and is hard to come by.
For an Indian, whose uncle was one of the country’s top billiard players, it’s difficult to accept. The story of Mumbai-born Akhilesh Mohan echoes the unpopularity of the game in France, where he has just managed to keep English billiards hopes alive. Mohan, nephew of former World Billiards Championship silver medalist Satish Mohan, had a difficult start to his aspirations. Despite his uncle’s fame, Akhilesh wasn’t allowed to play until he was 25.
“When I was 12, I saw my uncle play at the 1973 World Championship. That’s when it all started. I went back home and started playing on the dining table, making pockets using books.”
After a few months of coaching under his uncle at Kamath Club, Mumbai, Mohan had to stall his billiards aspirations as he moved to Marseille to pursue mechanical engineering. But his passion didn’t die. After 10 hours of hectic office work, he used to travel another 29 kilometers to practice.
However, lack of practice partners slowed him down. In a country where French billiards and snooker dominate, he never stood a chance to continue. Yet, his aspirations took him to the Scottish Open, English Open, and Cambridge Open, where he spent his vacations.
At world events, he didn’t get the desired result. “This time, I haven’t really justified the game because I lacked practice and a good table. We’re used to slower tables there. The absence of a coach was also felt,” Mohan said, adding that he would have liked at least 15 days of practice in India before entering a championship next time.
Results: Group A: Chit Ko Ko (MMR) bt T Sujaritthurakarn (THA) 3-2; Pankaj Advani bt Alok Kumar 3-2; Jaiveer Dhingra bt Sasan Lashkari (IRN) 3-0; A Kumar bt S Lashkari 3-0; Sujaritthurakarn bt Dhingra 3-2; Advani bt Ko Ko 3-1; Advani bt Lashkari 3-0; Dhingra bt Ko Ko 3-0; Sujaritthurakarn bt Alok 3-1.
Group B: B Bhaskar bt Nalin Patel (ENG) 3-1; Aung Htay (MMR) bt Brijesh Damani 3-1; Dhruv Sitwala bt Mohamed Aslam (SL) 3-0; Bhaskar bt Htay 3-2; Damani bt Aslam 3-1; Sitwala bt Nalin 2-0.
Group C: Siddharth Parikh 3-2 Dhvaj Haria; Rupesh Shah bt Ajeya Prabhakar (USA) 3-0; Peter Gilchrist (SGP) bt Akhilesh Mohan (FRA) 3-0; Rupesh bt Akhilesh 3-0; Gilchrist bt Parikh 3-1; Haria bt Prabhakar 3-0.
Group D: Sourav Kothari bt Soheil Vahedi (IRN) 3-1; Praprut Chaithanasakun (THA) bt Devendra Joshi 3-0; Robert Hall (ENG) bt Shankar Rao 3-1; R Hall bt Devendra 3-2; Vahedi bt Rao 3-0; Chaithanasakun bt Kothari 3-1; Kothari bt Rao 3-0; Hall bt Chaithanasakun 3-1.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com