Kolkata, Apr 30 (PTI) Sourav Kothari says he is still “battling a lot of demons” after the loss of his father, but a strange “numbness” also helped him cope with pressure en route to back-to-back World titles.
Kothari defeated Indian ace Pankaj Advani 1133-477 to win the IBSF World Billiards Championship (time-format) in Carlow, Ireland on Tuesday, producing a dominant performance that included a 485 break lasting one hour and five minutes of uninterrupted play, followed by runs of 121, 90, 241 and an unfinished 155.
The 41-year-old’s triumph came less than four months after the death of his father and mentor Manoj Kothari.
“Wins and losses don’t matter to me because something so big has happened in my life that everything else has diminished in value,” Kothari told reporters in a virtual interaction facilitated by SAI.
“When you don’t give too much importance, it doesn’t cause pressure. Our game is about how you handle pressure and because I am so numb, I feel I dealt with it much better.
“There is no expectation out of me… I don’t have any expectation out of myself, and that probably helped me win this world title.” Describing the feeling bittersweet, he said: “It’s sweet because obviously winning a world title is in itself, I think, a great feat, let alone defending it, and bitter obviously because I wish that my father was here to see me achieve this feat again. I mean I have to accept the reality and move ahead with times.” Opening up on his bond with his father, Kothari said the void remains overwhelming.
“I still am battling a lot of my demons in the head… in my case every step of the way was connected with my father. Somehow I see him everywhere and I still feel that he is around me… maybe just around me.” Kothari also recalled how he was persuaded to play the National championship soon after his father’s passing.
“I was sitting in my room in Kolkata… I had locked myself and I was weeping, and I got a call from the BSFI secretary (Sunil Bajaj) saying, ‘I’m calling you as a brother… please come and play.’ My mom egged me on and I went and played… and won the National title.” Calls for cue sport in CWG 2030 ====================== The multiple-time world champion also pushed for cue sports’ inclusion in the centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games slated in Ahmedabad in 2030.
“Billiards and snooker have a fantastic chance of winning multiple medals… we’ve won multiple golds at the Asian Games. It will be great for India’s medal tally if we are included in the Commonwealth Games.” “We need a push from SAI, the ministry and the media… This sport deserves its place in multi-continental events with such a rich history of world and Asian champions.” Lacking in infra =========== He stressed the need for stronger grassroots infrastructure to tap growing interest.
“We are still lacking in terms of infrastructure… people should be able to come and try the sport at a subsidised cost. Once that happens, the whole system can change… we can go back to a place where lakhs of tables are active across the country.” Looking ahead, Kothari will feature in a snooker event in Mumbai from May 5, but the next big competition will be the World Snooker Championship likely to be held in Indore later this year. PTI TAP AM AM
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