Cueist Alok Kumar says a balanced team was key to the Indian team's win in the inaugural Asian Snooker Team Championships in Doha, Qatar.
"It's difficult to win team competitions with one good player and two average ones. We were lucky to have three excellent players in the squad". The other two squad members, Manan Chandra and Brijesh Damani, won the singles encounters in the final against Iran. Chandra edged Amir Sarkhosh out 61- 49 in a close opening match while Damani brushed aside Ehsan Heydarinezhad to record a 58-16 victory. Then Alok and Chandra won the doubles 63-55 to secure the Championships with an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of five rubber.
Alok is lavish in his praise for Delhi's Chandra. "He was exceptional throughout the tournament. Brijesh and I had to play the supporting cast and we backed him up well. What makes our win all the more special is that there were more fancied teams like China. We managed to keep our cool when it mattered most, in the real high pressure situations", says the cueist, who won the Arjuna Award in 2002.
One such situation came in the first group game against Saudi Arabia, where India were 0-2 down after Chandra and Damani lost in singles. However, the team recovered to win the doubles and both reverse singles to eventually prevail 3-2.
Alok is one of the rare breed of players who has played snooker, billiards and pool successfully. How does he adjust to playing (and winning medals in) all three games simultaneously? "It's difficult. But I'd say that flexibility is my biggest strength. You have to adjust very quickly between the games as one pool tournament is often followed immediately by a billiards or snooker tournament.
“For example, I had to play the Asian Billiards Championships five days after winning the National Pool Championships in 2011, and it's going to be the same situation in July this year, where the Australian Open Billiards Championship and the Asian Indoor Championships (pool competition) fall within a week of each other."
