Model Shrestha with Michael Ferriera

All play and no partying can also make Jack a dull boy. That’s why on Wednesday evening, after a whole week of fighting it out on the snooker and billiard tables, young players, all hopefuls for The Asian Billiards Championship 2004 in India & IBSF World Snooker Championship 2004 in the Netherlands, hit the dance floor at a private do.

Hosted by Anil Bhutoria at his plush Salt Lake hotel, Stadel, the fun session saw former Asian and world champions, besides the new crop of players, taking to the festivities of the evening.

Billiard biggie Michael Ferriera and other members of IBSF, among them Ashok Shandilya, Subhash Agarwal, Devendra Joshi, Dhruv Shitwala, Pankaj Advani, Alok Kumar, Yasin Merchant, Manan Chandra, Rafath Habib, B. V. S. Murthy, B. Bhaskar and coach Manoj Kothari being the heavy-weights having a blast.

The tough trial rounds had obviously left the players wanting to unwind. Also, the announcement of the final list of names to represent the country at the international platforms threw up a reason for celebration. The end-result was that Heka, the Egyptian bar at Stadel, boomed till midnight.

A three-ft long cake, an impression of a billiards board complete with the cues and colourful balls, added to the sporting feel of the event. In fact, the rather painstakingly crafted cake by executive chef Narayan Chatterjee was the centre of attention among the former and fledgling champions, until, of course, models Sanjukta, Amrita and Srestha dropped by to add the ‘babe’ factor to the billiards bash.

Prizes for the winners of the trial runs and an impressive introduction by big man Ferriera later, it was time to hit the dance floor. The worries of a championship to be won could wait.