Sportspersons winning national titles take pride in their performances; someone like the remarkable Pankaj Advani comes to mind for his phenomenal showing in the national championships. The 31-year-old has already won eight national billiards and snooker titles each. The latest was the national snooker title he won after outclassing Railways' E. Pandurangaiah at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune on Thursday.
But Advani and other winners were presented trophies that were locally made and stickers pasted on it. The winners of a national championship deserve much more for their effort. The winning team of the Ranji Trophy, for instance, is presented with a glittering trophy and the members get to keep replicas of it. A similar trophy must be introduced for cue sports as well.
At the prize distribution function, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) president, Capt. P. K. V. Mohan said the 84th Manisha National Billiards & Snooker Championship received a record 1200-plus entries and over 1400 matches were played.
The host, the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM), especially its president Ranjan Khinvasara, whose company sponsored the nationals for the seventh time, tournament director Salil Deshpande, chief referee Ajay Rastogi and the PYC Hindu Gymkhana committee made the event successful. But the winners and runners-up deserve better trophies for their performances.
"I received the M. M. Begg Trophy after winning the national snooker in Kashmir in 1989. He was a zamindar in Bengal," said Shyam Jagtiani of M.M. Begg, who was a pioneer of billiards and snooker in India.
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