The under-construction Rohinis City Centre mall wasnt the best place to conduct the Delhi State Snooker Championships. Reason: young cueists have to put with the constant thuds of ongoing construction,the shrieking sounds of conveyer belts. Their woes dont end here,even the false ceiling is open in parts and cabling isnt complete. Also,players have to stand directly under unfinished a/c vents to catch a blast of cool air in between points in the absence of centralised air conditioning. And two pool tables covered with tarpaulin serve as a rack on which players place their cue boxes. Worse,the playing area is separated from the construction only by a few sheets of promotional vinyl board. A month after Delhi Snooker and Billiards Association (DSBA) held a tournament at the same venue,their efforts to find a suitable place to conduct tournaments have failed. Although DSBA has a snooker venue in Malviya Nagar,they are unable to use it. The association says that the problem began in 2008 when the MCD sealed the venue claiming that it was being used for commercial activities. While last year the DSBA managed to host events at somewhat better venues,this year tournaments are being held at the mall. The State championships are the second tournament of Delhi snooker season after the P Upendra Memorial where players have found themselves in adverse playing conditions. There is no scope that I can focus completely on the game. Its so noisy that it becomes extremely difficult to imagine a shot. This kind of atmosphere can only make a player loose his touch, said a player. While players experienced perfect playing conditions in some of the prestigious National tournaments in the past,they are playing in this tournament only out of necessity. Since the Nationals are approaching,the team has to be selected and we have no option to perform to our best to book our place for the Pune event, said another player who wished not to be named. The association in their defence say that they dont have the capability to organise tournaments in some club where the necessary facilities are available. They claim they have already been overburdened in first organising tournaments and then selecting teams that will participate in the upcoming Nationals. It is our duty to keep conducting tournaments but we are suffering a lot because of the venues. We know that it is unfair for the players but what else can we do, said BSFI vice president Ravi Tandon. Tandon says that the DSBA had also requested senior players like Manan Chandra,Yasin Merchant and Alok Kumar to join the association in their fight to release the Malviya Nagar venue. All these players have also given affidavits saying that the venue was being used to conduct National level tournaments,but there has been no reply by the MCD, said Tandon. We are managing somehow to conduct tournaments, Tandon added. The DSBA is in a situation that neither the association wants to conduct tournaments at such places,nor do the players want to participate,but with no other options in hand,the players have to adjust.
