<p>Unlike other sporting disciplines in the country which conduct their Sub-junior, junior and senior National championships separately, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India stages the snooker and billiards nationals for all categories at one go.<br /><br />Not only does it impose a huge burden on players, who are forced to play multiple matches a day, it also serves a logistical nightmare for the organisers. S Balasubramaniam, BSFI Secretary, said the the possibility of conducting three seperate national championships will be discussed in the BSFI Managing Committee meeting in Chennai on Saturday. <br /><br />Chennai, the venue for the 2011 edition, offers an example for the tough situation. The tournament, which has attracted an unprecedented 830 entries, and has witnessed nearly 1,100 matches so far, kicked-off on July 18 and is scheduled for an August 9 close. <br />‘’I agree it puts enormous pressure on the players and organisers,” Balasubramaniam told Deccan Herald. “Some players have criticised the taxing schedule in the past, but most of them seem fine with it. We’ve been staging it in this format for many years now, and have just stuck to something that has given us good results.<br /><br /> “However, I completely understand the plight of the organisers and players. When Pankaj (Advani) started out as junior, he had to play 3-4 difficult matches a day to stay in title contention. He handled the pressure well, but not many can do it. The same applies to the organisers who are always kept on their toes.<br /><br />“Therefore, we will be raising this issue (of splitting the National Championships) during the BSFI Managing Committee meeting in Chennai on Saturday. We will discuss the pros and cons before arriving at a decision. A lot of things have to be taken into consideration,” added Balasubramaniam.<br /><br />One of the main reasons behind BSFI bunching the Nationals together is to increase participation, largely from juniors, who won’t lose much even if they crash out early in the ensuing Seniors’ battle. BSFI also does not have to keep running around in trying to find multiple hosts, considering the availability of quality billiards and snooker tables is restricted to big cities.<br /><br />Seven-time World Champion Advani, who last week successfully defended his snooker crown, suggested hosting the Sub-junior, Junior and Ladies tournaments together and the men’s snooker and billiards separately. “Splitting the men’s from the Sub-junior, Junior and Ladies is an option. Also, qualifying tournaments for the main draw – which takes up a lot of time – can be held at the start of the two main events.”<br /><br />Balasubramaniam also hinted at identifying qualifiers for the tournament proper via zonal competitions. “Zonal qualifiers is one thing that will also be for discussion. But, then we need to find cities that can host them.”<br /></p>
<p>Unlike other sporting disciplines in the country which conduct their Sub-junior, junior and senior National championships separately, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India stages the snooker and billiards nationals for all categories at one go.<br /><br />Not only does it impose a huge burden on players, who are forced to play multiple matches a day, it also serves a logistical nightmare for the organisers. S Balasubramaniam, BSFI Secretary, said the the possibility of conducting three seperate national championships will be discussed in the BSFI Managing Committee meeting in Chennai on Saturday. <br /><br />Chennai, the venue for the 2011 edition, offers an example for the tough situation. The tournament, which has attracted an unprecedented 830 entries, and has witnessed nearly 1,100 matches so far, kicked-off on July 18 and is scheduled for an August 9 close. <br />‘’I agree it puts enormous pressure on the players and organisers,” Balasubramaniam told Deccan Herald. “Some players have criticised the taxing schedule in the past, but most of them seem fine with it. We’ve been staging it in this format for many years now, and have just stuck to something that has given us good results.<br /><br /> “However, I completely understand the plight of the organisers and players. When Pankaj (Advani) started out as junior, he had to play 3-4 difficult matches a day to stay in title contention. He handled the pressure well, but not many can do it. The same applies to the organisers who are always kept on their toes.<br /><br />“Therefore, we will be raising this issue (of splitting the National Championships) during the BSFI Managing Committee meeting in Chennai on Saturday. We will discuss the pros and cons before arriving at a decision. A lot of things have to be taken into consideration,” added Balasubramaniam.<br /><br />One of the main reasons behind BSFI bunching the Nationals together is to increase participation, largely from juniors, who won’t lose much even if they crash out early in the ensuing Seniors’ battle. BSFI also does not have to keep running around in trying to find multiple hosts, considering the availability of quality billiards and snooker tables is restricted to big cities.<br /><br />Seven-time World Champion Advani, who last week successfully defended his snooker crown, suggested hosting the Sub-junior, Junior and Ladies tournaments together and the men’s snooker and billiards separately. “Splitting the men’s from the Sub-junior, Junior and Ladies is an option. Also, qualifying tournaments for the main draw – which takes up a lot of time – can be held at the start of the two main events.”<br /><br />Balasubramaniam also hinted at identifying qualifiers for the tournament proper via zonal competitions. “Zonal qualifiers is one thing that will also be for discussion. But, then we need to find cities that can host them.”<br /></p>
