Sethi on cue with opinion

Cue sports need to take a leaf off the IPL book if they are to reach the masses, feels Geet Sethi.

“Cue sports have the potential to attract people. That is going to happen if entertainment is imbibed and more sponsors come in,” said the eight-time world billiards champion.

In the Capital to meet budding cueists in the P Upendra Memorial North Zone School Snooker tournament, Sethi said players like Pankaj Advani were perfect ambassadors of the sport. On his preparations for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, the veteran felt his practice was on the right track.

Quizzed on the recent dip in performance, Sethi said it was about getting on in years. “I lost to Pankaj Advani in the first selection tournament for the Asian Games but came back to win the second one. My performance has dropped and that’s because I am not getting younger,” he said.

The 49-year-old said it was unclear who would make it to the Asian Games contingent as a lot of players were closely placed on the points’ table.

“Pankaj has 17 points, Rupesh Shah and I are tied at 16. Ashok Shandilya and others are right below, so nobody is sure of boarding the flight to the Asian Games.

Two more selection tournaments are left and everyone has to perform well,” he said. On cue sports not being a part of the 2014 Asian Games, Geet said it was a big blow.

However, Ravi Tandon, vice-president of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), was confident of the disciplines being included and said the BSFI would pursue it with the Olympic Council of Asia.