Manoj and Sourav Kothari at the Hindusthan Club. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Hindusthan Club is all set to rewind to its days of table-top glory. The cue? A three-month training camp (pegged at Rs 1,500 per month) of billiards and snooker with former world billiards champion Manoj Kothari. “In the past, we had players who went on to play at the national and state level. We want to be a breeding ground for such players again,” said club president Alok Garodia.

That’s not all. The Sarat Bose Road club has plans to eventually turn the training camp into an academy. It will also throw open its gates to select state players to help “members hone their skills”, added Garodia. As part of its “long-term plans”, the club will host an annual snooker tournament — this May’s edition will star the likes of Geet Sethi, Pankaj Advani and Yasin Merchant.

t2 got Manoj Kothari, 54, and son Sourav, 27, world no. 3, talking on billiards and bonding…

Manoj, what made you take up billiards?

Manoj: For a long time, there was a saying that proficiency in billiards was a sign of misspent youth. You cannot study, you’ll be late home at night, you will never get married, if you did, your wife would shout. And then, the misconception that the game was connected to betting.

I did not start playing because I wanted to be a champion. In India, champions are made accidentally. I used to play table tennis at YMCA, which was near my house. Once or twice, I would go and sneak a peek at the billiards table. It was in a dark room with a conical light with only the table illuminated… it had a soothing effect.

I started playing the game because of the science behind it… the deflection of the ball, the curving…. Being a student of ball dynamics in mechanical engineering, I could relate to this. Within a year, I got 100 breaks. If I did not play, it was like not being able to solve a complex problem!

The rest is history. I represented Bengal in 1976-77, went on to play the junior nationals and then became the state champion. From 1980-90, I was No. 1 in billiards in Bengal and in 1990, I won the world title. In 2002, I started coaching (Geet Sethi and Pankaj Advani are among his students). Now, I also coach the ONGC cue sports team and Sourav is the company’s brand ambassador.

Sourav, do you think your dad started playing too late?

Probably, compared to today’s day and age, very late… in England you have players who are five-six years old, who can barely reach the tabletop, making 100 breaks… in snooker that is a benchmark. This was unthinkable in my father’s time; he had a family to support. If you get into the game at 19 or 20, that is late. My father won his first world title at 30-31. And now, players like Pankaj Advani have won world championship titles at 23-24.

Would he have won many more titles had he started early?

Sourav: That’s a very emotional question. We were a middle-class family. When my grandfather passed away, he left behind my parents, me and my twin sister, my uncle and his wife and all that our family had was Rs 800. He had a family to support. It is not easy travelling 50km a day, coming back from Jadavpur University by bus and then walking 5km to reach home (near Girish Park)… getting an hour to play. And then studying from 11pm to 2am… and waking up at 6am! Considering that, what my father has achieved is absolutely outstanding. Today, this is what keeps us grounded.

Why did you decide to take up the game professionally?

It’s an amusing story. In my old house in north Calcutta [they now live in Tollygunge], we had a cabinet and just three feet away was the boundary of my bed. In that passage, I started playing with tennis balls. I halved the cue and played with one half. And before I knew it, I was hooked!

Of course I grew up seeing my father become world champion but I did not understand its magnitude. One afternoon, he was practising and I decided to skip my lunch and sneaked into the billiards room. You know how captivating it can be for a youngster… the green baize and the coloured balls. I was awestruck.

When I started winning, my father started taking a lot of interest. Suddenly, there came a day when he started pushing and telling me, ‘How can you play this shot?’ In stark contrast to how it was before… absolute indifference.

Manoj: I saw that he had the talent to win a medal for the country.

Sourav: I became India no. 2 in juniors the very second or third year that I started playing for West Bengal. And now I am World no. 3.

Is your father over-critical?

He does want me to be perfect, which in life is not possible. He has mastered the game. So, sometimes, he gets frustrated — ‘if I know something, why isn’t my son being able to do it’! I was a little bit arrogant... because of which he was very critical. But he has done his best to make me a well-rounded person. Now I have realised that whatever he is saying, he knows far more than me.

My father is unbiased. If there is a press conference, he will make sure that Pankaj Advani or Alok Kumar are spoken about more. He feels he cannot promote his son. I used to feel bad. Can’t he do this much for me? Everyone wants a little pampering. But now, I have accepted it and think this is the right approach.

Manoj: I feel he should get accolades for something he deserves.

Manoj, what are your dreams for Sourav?

Manoj: His game is outstanding. I can sit for eight hours and watch him. He is captivating. But he has to be more professional. Time management is important. I keep telling him that today you are a product which has to shine from inside and outside. The amount of talent he has… he is under-performing.

Sourav: Things are getting better. In fact, at 4am, he was watching my match with Mike Russell… by far the best player the world has seen in the modern era. He couldn’t believe that I was 3-1 up with Mike Russell!

Who will be a suitable girl for Sourav?

Sourav: Someone who runs errands for him! (Laughs.)

Manoj: He will not listen to me about marriage.

Sourav: He has left it to me. I have to choose. I just want someone who is working… she should not sit at home.

How do you spend time together?

Sourav: We talk at night. We don’t get to spend too much time together because both of us are travelling.

Manoj: We watch movies together at home.

Sourav: His favourite actress is Penelope Cruz… no? Angelina Jolie? Kareena Kapoor?

Manoj: Nothing like that… sometimes, I enjoy a film like 3 Idiots.

Sourav: One common thing is that if there is an emotional scene, we get teary-eyed. He is not embarrassed to weep buckets!