BSFI urges Ministry to include cue sport heroes in Arjuna list

NEW DELHI: Disappointed at the exclusion of Sourav Kothari and Chitra Magimairaj from the Arjuna Awards list, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) today urged the Sports Ministry to reconsider the two names in order to give the cue sport stars their due.

2014 Asian billiards champion Kothari and two-time world ladies billiards and snooker champion Chitra were recommended for the prestigious Arjuna awards by the BSFI, but media reports claim that the duo have missed out on the honour.

"It is indeed unfortunate that our sport has been treated so shabbily and I hope that some corrective action is taken by the Ministry for the mistake," wrote BSFI Secretary S Balasubramaniam in a letter to all the media heads of the nation.

"It is indeed a proud and happy day for all the cue sport fans in India with Pankaj Advani retaining his World 6-Red Snooker title. This is a very difficult task as the 6 Reds format was devised to counter pool and was meant to ro be such that it would provide an opportunity to players to be put on an even platform than the regular snooker.

"Vidya Pillai also performed very well but unfortunately had to be satisfied with the Silver Medal. She has been a consistent performer but sadly inspite of her performances and those that of Sourav Kothari and Chitra Magimairaj, not even one of them, whom we had recommended for the Arjuna Award were nominated by the Sports Ministry," the letter stated.