17th Carrom Euro Cup, Leszno, Poland (20-24 June, 2013)

17th Euro Cup 2013 was organized by Polish Carrom Association for the very first since they were formed back in April of 2009. This was held from 20-24 June in Leszno nearby Warsaw. For a new member to organize this event so very beautifully and successfully is an amazing feat and achievement. Kudos goes to Jakub, Paulina & the rest of the team who've worked tirelessly in the past months to make this maiden event a huge success. They need a pat on their backs for having done this. May I quote what the ICF President, Mr. Arif Naqvi said "For me a dream which I was carrying for so many years became true". This is something even the President feels extremely proud about.

Participated by 120 players from 10 countries from across Europe.

In summary:

Swiss League
Champion - Karnal Abdin (UK)
Second - Murshad Khan (UK)
Third - Fabian Pereira (France)
Fourth - Peter Boecker (Germany)

Doubles
Champion - Mehedi Hassan/Babu Saravan (Sweden)
Second - Sunahar Ali/Abdul Malik (UK)
Third - Fabian Pereira/Kevin Sieger (France)

Team Event
Champion - France
Second - UK
Third - Germany

Other teams which took part in the team event are Switzerland, Italy, Poland & Czech Republic.

Other happenings
1. New ECC President - Nazrul Islam (formerly held by Mr. Arif Naqvi)
2. New ECC Secretary - Josef Meyer (formerly held by Elisa Martinelli)

Congratulations to both Nazrul & Josef on their new appointment and thank you to both the outgoing ECC President & Secretary respectively for your services.

To be continued...........more news, results & pictures.......stay tuned!

6,000 views

Today marks the 6,000th view. Thank you and keep coming for more information on carrom.

Results of 17th SAARC & 5th Asian Championship

INTRODUCTION
SAARC was held between 5-8 May, while ASIAN was held right after the conclusion of SAARC from 8-11 May. Venue of both these competitions were at The Pride Hotel, Kolkata, India. Hosted by Carrom Association of Bengal and organized by All India Carrom Federation (AICF).

HISTORY OF SAARC
Now if you're wondering what SAARC stands for - well it's an abbreviation for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Currently SAARC member countries comprises of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan which was the latest country to join in 2007. Now that's a little bit of history for you and ironically I just found it out myself. So welcome to some general knowledge.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

The recently concluded championships were held in Calcutta (Kolkata) during the 1st week of May and it lasted for 2 weeks beginning with SAARC and then the Asian championships. Unfortunately as most of the time, Malaysia could not send a team. This is not something new to us. Been there and the feeling sucks.

RESULTS

I managed to get the final results of both these championships and I'll post the results and some pictures of the winners, just to spice things up. There were huge upsets created and it's certainly not looking good for the defending champions - India. Their defense is now very much penetrable but only with the likes of Sri Lanka where during the 2012 World Championships in Sri Lanka, we had a new World Champion hailing from Sri Lanka - Mr. Nishanta Fernando.

So it's no luck if during that time when he emerged as the Champion, someone could have just uttered the word "luck". After posting of the results, I very much doubt it.

17th SAARC Carrom Championship 2013

Men's Team Event
Champions - India
Runner Up - Sri Lanka
3rd Place - Maldives

Women's Team Event
First Place - India
Runner Up - Sri Lanka
3rd Place - Maldives

Men Doubles
Champions - Chamil Cooray/Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Yogesh/Srinivas vs Chamil/Nishantha - (10-25, 25-24, 25-22)
Runner Up - Yogesh Pardesi/K. Srinivas (India)
3rd Place - Shaffee Mohd/Hassan Nazim (Maldives)

Women Doubles
Champions - Chalani Lakmali/Joseph Roshita (Sri Lanka)
Chalani/Roshita vs Rashmi/Illavazaki - (25-15, 25-14)
Runner Up - Rashmi Kumari/S. Illavazaki (India)
3rd Place - Aishath Fainaz/Aminath Vishama (Maldives)

Mixed Doubles
Champions - Sandeep Deorukhkar/Kavita Somanchi (India)
Sandeep/Kavita vs Brindly/Yasika - (25-15, 25-05)
Runner Up - Brindly Wickramasinghe/Yasika Rahubaddha (Sri Lanka)
3rd Place - Hassan Shamin/Aminath Nifasha (Maldives)

Men Singles
Champion - Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Nishantha vs Sandeep. Won by Nishantha (25-15, 25-09)
Runner Up - Sandeep Deorukhkar (India)
3rd Place - Yogesh Pardesi (India)
4th Place - K. Srinivas (India)
5th Place - Chamil Cooray (Sri Lanka)
6th Place - Hassan Shamin (Maldives)
7th Place - Hassan Nazim (Maldives)
8th Place - Brindly Wickramasinghe (Sri Lanka)

Women Singles
Champion - Rashmi Kumar (India)
Rashmi vs Kavitha. Won by Rashmi (23-25, 25-15, 25-09)
Runner Up - Kavitha Somanchi (India)
3rd Place - S. Illavazaki (India)
4th Place - Chalani Lakmali (Sri Lanka)
5th Place - Roshita Joseph (Sri Lanka)
6th Place - Aminath Vishama (Maldives)
7th Place - Aishath Fainaz (Maldives)
8th Place - Aminath Nifasha (Maldives)

SLAM SCORERS
1. K. Srinivas - India - White Slam
2. Hassan Shamin - Maldives - White Slam
3. Nishantha Fernando - Sri Lanka - White Slam
4. Yogesh Pardesi - India - Black Slam
5. Sandeep Deorukhkar - India - White Slam

IN SUMMARY
During the 16th SAARC Championships held in Male, Maldives back in 2011, there was a huge number of slam scorers. In fact, if I'm not wrong, there were at least 30-something in total. Looks like a drought of slams this time around. Let's hope there were more slams in the Asian championships.

Nishantha is now a formidable force to be reckoned with and he's proven just that. As for the women, Rashmi has proved the critics wrong that she's still THE ONE to look out for. I personally believe after Rashmi got elevated to motherhood, her form has been just too good for the rest. Baby luck huh? I guess not.

5th Asian Carrom Championship 2013

Men's Team Event
Champions - India
Runner Up - Sri Lanka
3rd Place - Maldives

Women's Team Event
First Place - India
Runner Up - Sri Lanka
3rd Place - Maldives

Men Doubles
Champions - Chamil Cooray/Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Yogesh /Srinivas vs Chamil/Nishantha (18-25, 25-24, 25-22)
Runner Up - Yogesh Pardesi/K. Srinivas (India)
3rd Place - Shaffee Mohd/Hassan Nazim (Maldives)

Women Doubles
Champions - Rashmi Kumari/S. Illavazaki (India)
Rashmi/Illavazaki vs Chalani/Roshita (25-10, 25-22)
Runner Up - Chalani Lakmali/Joseph Roshita (Sri Lanka)
3rd Place - Aishath Fainaz/Aminath Vishama (Maldives)

Mixed Doubles
Champions - Sandeep Deorukhkar/Kavita Somanchi (India)
Sandeep/Kavita vs Brindly/Yasika (25-07, 25-0)
Runner Up - Brindly Wickramasinghe/Yasika Rahubaddha (Sri Lanka)
3rd Place - Hassan Shamin/Aminath Nifasha (Maldives)

Men Singles
Champion - Sandeep Deorukhkar (India)
Sandeep vs Srinivas. Won by Sandeep (25-19, 25-14)
Runner Up - K. Srinivas (India)
3rd Place - Yogesh Pardesi (India)
4th Place - Chamil Cooray (Sri Lanka)
5th Place - Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka)
6th Place - Hassan Shamin (Maldives)
7th Place - Brindly Wickramasinghe (Sri Lanka)
8th Place - Hassan Nazim (Maldives)

Women Singles
Champion - Rashmi Kumar (India)
Rashmi vs Illavazaki. Won by Rashmi (25-5, 25-11)
Runner Up - S. Illavazaki (India)
3rd Place - Kavita Somanchi (India)
4th Place - Chalani Lakmali (Sri Lanka)
5th Place - Yasika Rahubaddha (Sri Lanka)
6th Place - Aishath Fainaz (Maldives)
7th Place - Roshita Joseph (Sri Lanka)
8th Place - Aminath Vishama (Maldives)

SLAM SCORERS
1. B. Wickramasinghe - Sri Lanka - Black Slam
2. Nishantha Fernando - Sri Lanka - Black Slam


IN SUMMARY
So the slam drought did creep into the Asian Championships. Is it a lack of wanting to produce slams or there isn't any form of motivation to do so. I really don't know. Perhaps the boards used were much more difficult to do so with tighter pockets? Monetary rewards? Malaysia was one of the first country ever back in the late 90s to offer cash rewards for "slams".

I hope to be able to post more photos and hopefully no one copies these results and photos and claim it's theirs. You know how bloggers are.

SOME PICTURES FOR YOUR VIEWING

Men Doubles FINALS (SAARC Championship)

Sri Lankan Team chilling out after a "tough day at the office"

Women Doubles Champion - Sri Lanka (SAARC)

Team Maldives

Team Maldives all set for awards & prize presentation

Team Sri Lanka with 4 Gold Medals

Thank you for 5,000 views

This is an amazing achievement. Never did I expect my blog to reach this many audience. The mark was achieved yesterday (09 April 2013). Thank you so very much. If there's something you'd like me to write, please share your views and send me an email. God Bless!

RAW Young Talent Spotted!

A young boy hailing from a small flat was identified on the 16 of December. Just 12 and standing just below 3.5ft but he's very promising and shows great skills. I've got something up my sleeves for this kid. Come back here to read all about it....... 

Sponsorship = Support + Recognition

6th World Carrom Championship 2012, Colombo. Sri Lanka (31st October - 4th November).....here I come.

Ok my apologies for not been writing for quite a while. Yes and I'm back from the competition. It was a good experience but sadly my form wasn't up to par and where I needed it the most, it just didn't come. In all the "bad" that happened, something good did happen. A few days after I got back home, as usual I was back on the board - training. Something strange happened cos this stroke which I've been trying for many years finally took place. It was certainly a good feeling although it hasn't been perfected and needs lots of sharpening, which I've already started working on on a daily basis. I'm delighted as this is the widely used stroke in the international carrom fraternity.

Having said that, I'm very grateful to my employers especially my MD and Head of Corp. Comm. for initiating this sponsorship. For a big organization like this, carrom should be nothing but because of the fact that I'm an employee and that I'm crazily passionate about this game, the company came forward by supporting and recognizing this game. This is a huge boost for me as well as for carrom.

Not only did they sponsor me but they also sponsored the team in terms of providing 2 sets of beautifully printed t-shirts and a cool-looking hand towel to go along with it. This is very exciting for me as I've been with this organization for 5yrs already and this is the 1st time they've agreed to this sponsorship.

HUGE THANKS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING THE GREENLIGHT. KUDOS TO THE TEAM!

My only hope is that they will continue to come forward with the assistance I need for future international outings.

My first ever - 27 years ago!

Hi friends, good to catch up once again. When I look back through the years and how carrom has evolved, its truly amazing. Been there, done that and here I am now - playing international carrom. Did I ever expect or dream that I would come this far? NO! NEVER! Everything happens only by HIS grace. So having had played carrom for almost 30 years, I'm glad I actually won something way back in 1985 during my schooldays. It was my runners-up plaque in doubles with my partner at that time - Edmund Fernandez. The plaque was kinda "dusty" although in was in a showcase but still had to use thinner to remove some stubborn dirt and now as you can see - it's SHINY. As for my partner, I guess now he has totally lost touch. Can't blame them as everyone has gone into different directions doing different things i.e. getting married, having a family, caught up with work, etc. etc. Gladly, my passion for carrom never died. Hope to leave behind a carrom legacy in Malaysia.