Bengal 'gets back' Kothari
Credit:
epaper.timesofindia.com
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Having waited
for years as the country ‘cornered’ Manoj Kothari, his home state is
now laying out the 'green baize' for a piece of the former world
billiards champion. Kothari, chief national cue sports coach since
July 2010, has been roped in as coach by Hindustan Club and the
possibilities are peeping out.
"We'll start with club members and their
children for a period of three months, during which we will learn
and see what else we need to add to make the facilities even better
before extending the opportunity to all top players of the state,"
said club president Alok Garodia.
Kothari, whose
has also coached in Iran (one of his wards, Hussein Vafai is the
current world snooker champion), Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal, sees
the opportunity. "I have passed on tips and
shown a few things to my son (and current India player) Sourav and
some other players but this is my first serious coaching assignment
in Bengal. The possibilities are enormous because the facility is
good and there is a lot of enthusiasm in the club over the project,"
he said. "This is a club where I had some big
breaks as a player. It’s good to be back," he added with the
enthusiasm he has approached most things in life, including a career
as an engineer.
Kothari’s role
in the national cuesports body has expanded to include selection,
developmental and policymaking duties. "But
I'll be travelling far less over the next one year or so, so culling
out time for the coaching here should not be a problem," he
responded to a question and spoke of the need for modern means in
coaching. "Hopefully, this is the start we
need to produce more and more top-level players from my state."
As the 1990
world champion showed the first set of players the ropes in the
air-conditioned billiards room, many budding players will be hoping
this is an initiative that stays and grows.
Kolkata
:: 09
February
2012
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