As BOSM draws near, the BOSM English Press had the opportunity to sit down with Arjun Sharma, the Captain of the snooker and pool team, to learn about the team’s preparation for the upcoming sports fest.

Arjun explained that though the teams were the same, snooker and eight-ball pool were very different games—the only similarity being that both required potting balls into pockets on a billiards table. Eight-ball pool involved a cue ball and fifteen object balls. The players were assigned categories: solids (balls one through seven) or stripes (balls nine through fifteen), and must pocket all the balls in their category before attempting to pot the eight-ball to win. Snooker, on the other hand, involves six coloured balls of varying points. Only after pocketing the red ball, could a player pot any other coloured balls. He continued that while eight-ball pool would follow a knock-out structure for individuals, snooker would consist of teams of three, with a best-of-five-frames system. 

Arjun mentioned that the team practised in their room at the Students’ Activities Centre (SAC), with every player getting an hour or two of practice every day. This would increase to three to four hours as BOSM crept closer. He explained that the new recruits were kept under probation until after BOSM to reinforce the commitment required. They were initially only taught pool, and if their game improved, they were introduced to snooker. He highlighted that this year, after five rounds of recruitment, the team had taken in eight probationary members from the 2025 batch—the highest ever—and also its first ever female player.

When asked about their major rivals, Arjun mentioned Manipal University, Jaipur and O.P. Jindal University. He noted that snooker, being a niche sport, only attracted around 3-4 teams at BOSM, while pool saw 10-11 teams participating. 

 Talking about the challenges faced, Arjun mentioned that coaching was an issue owing to snooker’s lack of mainstream popularity, with coaches concentrated only in metro cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai. He added that their SAC room was also pretty cramped, and though the team wanted an extra snooker table, there had been neither the room nor the funds from the institute’s side.

 Reflecting on past BOSM performances, Arjun relayed that the team had always won gold in both pool and snooker, until an upset last year saw Manipal University Jaipur, Team B, clinch gold at both, with BITS Pilani getting Silver. He stated that the team had been eager to face them again this year. With reference to InterBITS, he remarked that BITS Hyderabad had a very strong pool and snooker culture.

Speaking about his experience as Captain, Arjun said that it had been quite hectic to manage his responsibilities alongside academics. He added that while it had been fulfilling to watch the team grow, he had been getting a bit overwhelmed by the team size. He further expressed anxiety to see his players perform well, especially after they had confessed that their game improvement had been slow. Still, he concluded that the team had put in the hours, and they would now hope for the best at BOSM.