The RCGC Open Doubles Handicap Snooker Tournament 2021, in association with The Telegraph, culminated on December 22 after three weeks of intense competition. Involving 24 participating members, the format of the tournament had a senior player being partnered by a junior player which provided an opportunity for learning, mentorship and growth.
“We’ve been playing for the last 22 days. A lot of our activities have been stopped due to Covid but we’re very careful, keeping all the protocols in mind. We’re hopeful that things ease out. Everybody should be safe. While I’m not much of a snooker player, I think it was very well contested. We’ve got very good snooker players in our club and snooker is one of the important activities in our club,” said Rohan Ghosh, captain, of RCGC.
On a wintry evening enclosed within a room rich with heritage and tradition at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the finals were held. The Telegraph was there.
Viswanath Pai who has participated in several snooker events, battled on a wintry December evening for the winning spot. Jaideep Singh and he ended up at the runners-up position, but post a good fight.
The room was tense and the silence stretched as Jaideep Singh aimed for his shot during the last leg of the game. The game had three legs and the winner of two were the champions.
Winners Amit Mundra (left) and Rajesh Tulsian emerged champions the tournament with their excellent partnership. “It feels so great to be a part of the tournament and I like the spirit of the game! Rajesh Tulsian has been fabulous too!” said Mundra. Tulsian is a national-level player who has been playing the sport since grade eight and now plays the sport as a passion.“This kind of a tournament brings in the bonding and the warmth among players. At the end of the tournament, I feel great to have won this especially with a partner like Amit. The tournament gave us an opportunity to gel as well. It’s truly a lovely feeling to have won,” he smiled.
Jaideep Singh (left) and Viswanath Pai were the runners-up. “It was a wonderful experience. I have been playing for 34 years but this is the first time I competed in the finals of a snooker tournament at our club. I’m feeling really good. We played very well as a team, so I have to appreciate my partner,” said Pai. Singh was equally excited. “Frankly, we exceeded our expectations in some way, I think. We played a close match. Very interesting, very exciting. There are no regrets and I am very happy with the runners-up prize,” he added.
CLUB SPEAK
G.S. Baweja (left) the general committee member and convener with Rohan Ghosh, captain, RCGC. “This was truly weeks of enjoyment and members were all happy interacting. The sport is going to go on! We hope the interest carries on and people will continue to take part in other events,” said Baweja.
“This was a fantastic time to start the competition with not many intra-club competitions taking place . It was really challenging to get so many players and we did get them. RCGC is a sporting club, with a sporting background and the members were really sporting too. Evenly contested matches took place. Ultimately, it was great to watch the finals. It was really soothing to the eyes to see some top quality shots being played. I’m happy everything went well,” said Rajesh Chandan, sports coordinator, RCGC.