Japanese coaches to
train Indian cueists

Twenty leading Indian cueists will train under Japanese coaches for pool and carrom events for the Pusan Asian Games, national coach Michael Ferreira informed on Tuesday.

Speaking to newsmen after the first of four camps for Indian probables began in Bangalore, Ferreira said though billiards and snooker could ensure the bulk of the medals for Indian cueists at the Games, pool and carrom continue to be foreign.

He said efforts have already been initiated to secure Japanese coaches. While the name of the carrom coach is not immediately known, for pool games, veteran K Fujima would be avilable when the second camp commences on March 27.

Ferreira is confident that despite the altered pattern, India would secure at least six medals at the Pusan Games, from September 29 to October 14, 2002 . The cue games, where ten golds were in stake, begin on October 1.

The break-up of medals are:
Snooker: singles, doubles and team.
Billiards: singles and doubles
Carrom ball: one cushion: singles, three cushion: singles.
Pool: eight ball: singles; and nine balls: singles and doubles.

At the Asian Games in Bangkok, in 1998, India won five medals -- two gold, two silver and a bronze in billiards and snooker events. They was the highest by any Indian contingent.

Ferreira said Yasin Merchant, who returned to snooker after a brief lay-off and recently won the Asian title, is a force to reckon with. However, he would have to face a tough fight from James Wattana of Thailand.

Cueists from Thailand and Malaysia would be the main challengers for India, he added.

He said with the new format of billiards being restricted to best-of-three 100-point games, it would be tough. Instead of skills, the players' nerves would play a vital role, he said.

Similarly, snooker matches would be best-of-five frames. The new snooker format should provide Indians an advantage, he felt.

Ferriera said the Indian team would comprise 14 players. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of a smaller team. This would be decided after the final camp, which is tentatively scheduled to be held in Kolkata in July.

He said the Japanese coaches would teach Indian cueists about the angles that need to be tackled in carrom and pool games. Though Indian players had the skills, they were found wanting in this department, he said.

The players undergoing training are: Geet Sethi (Gujarat), Ashok Shandilya (Railways), Alok Kumar (Punjab), Devendra Joshi (Maharashtra), Pankaj Advani (Karnataka), Manan Chandra (Delhi), Yasin Merchant (Maharashtra), Mukesh Rehani (Railways), Dharmender Lilly (Punjab), Rafath Habib (Tamil Nadu), Antim Singhi (Railways), Dhruv Sitwala (Maharashtra), Amit Khan Sahab (Maharashtra), Prem Prakash (Tamil Nadu), Sundeep Duggal (Chandigarh), Ravi Shankar (Andhra Pradesh), Siddharth Anand (Delhi), K Ranjan (Tamil Nadu), Manoj Kothari (West Bengal) and Mohd. Asim (West Bengal).

Rupesh Shah (Gujarat), S A Saleem (Tamil Nadu) and Amit Saboo (Maharashtra) did not attend the camp and have been replaced by 16-year-old Pankaj Advani, Rafath Habib and Devendra Joshi.

Subhash Agrawal and Sanjay Sawant are assisting Ferreira at the camps.