Hyderabad would likely host the Asian Tour Circuit at Film Nagar Cultural Centre at Jubilee Hills, said Capt. P.V.K. Mohan, president of International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).
Capt. Mohan was responding to a plea from V. Chamundeswaranath, secretary (sports) of FNCC, to host national and international-level cue sports at the billiards hall of FNCC as they have the organisational capability to do so.
“I don’t think it should be a problem. Last year, we hosted the world-ranking Indian Open in Visakhapatnam. If the Asian Tour, which is already on in certain cities, is to be hosted here, it would have to be staged at a prize money of $50,000. If you can raise the sponsorship, we will be more than willing to host it,” said the top IBSF official.
Quick to respond, Mr. Chamundeswaranath appealed to Capt. Mohan to also chip in from his side so that the dream of Hyderabadis to host such a prestigious event is realised.
On the efforts to give the much-needed fillip to cue sports in Telangana at the inauguration of Telangana State-Ranking Championship at FNCC on Thursday, Capt. Mohan reminded that the onus was on players to rise to the occasion.
“Now, the exposure and the facilities are far better, going by the fact that any international event features at least 15 Indians. We have overtaken China as a major cue sports hub in Asia,” he said.
“And we take pride in the fact that world under-16 girls champion, Kirtana, is from Karnataka. India also has the defending world champions in both snooker and billiards. After cricket and badminton, cue sports has the maximum following as was evident with TV viewership of 85 millions in India and 650 millions world over for the Indian Open in Vizag last year,” Capt. Mohan explained.
Member of Parliament A.P. Jitender Reddy also appreciated the efforts of TCSA in promoting the sport in a big way. “I am glad the Telangana State-Ranking Championship will see the top five make it to the nationals to be held in January next,” he said.
