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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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Last modified: Thursday February 16, 2012 00:05:57 +0530