Overview

A poorly-lit room in Old SAC houses the Carrom team – a group of nine people playing enthusiastically despite their rather drab surroundings. One can see at least five team members huddled around a single board at any time in the evening. With BOSM approaching, one expects teams to have started preparing for matches well in advance. However, the team was unable to start practicing until the 29th of August due to the unavailability of space. Their allotted Old SAC room is, for the most part of the year, booked by cultural associations. The team has no coach – they rely solely on senior members for guidance.

The Carrom team is divided into BITS A and BITS B, each with four members and one substitute. Carrom is played in doubles and singles. The team currently practices for about two hours per day but as BOSM draws closer, they intend on putting in a few more hours of practice. The team also spends a considerable amount of time discussing strategies and watching videos.

The team faced some issues with resources last year. The boards that had been ordered had turned out to be of substandard quality and the matches had to be hosted on old boards. The team still practices on old boards and is hoping for better resources from the institute.

Past Performance

In BOSM 2016, both BITS A and BITS B reached the semi-finals. BITS A proceeded further and won the bronze medal after losing a tiebreaker with BITS Hyderabad. In all, BITS A team won four matches while BITS B won three.

Recruitments

The recruitment procedure of the carrom team has been the same for years. Trials are held in the even semester and a team of nine to ten people is recruited for the upcoming edition of BOSM. Because of even semester recruitments, first years aren’t taken into the team and the new additions to the team are current second and third years. First year enthusiasts, however, do turn up to practice with the team at times. The team members are encouraging and are more than happy to help anyone who wishes to learn the sport. The home team is hoping for enthusiastic support from the BITSians in BOSM 2017.

Captain’s Interview

The team Captain, Sourya Sai, is a third year B. Pharmacy student from Vishakhapatnam. He joined the team in his second year. In the past, Sai would play carrom for leisure and never made efforts to improve his game. It was only after coming to campus that he decided to try his hand at playing the game seriously. His father is an excellent carrom player and was his mentor before he came to BITS.

Even though Sai does not intend on taking up the sport professionally after graduation, he is sure that he will never quit playing the game. He is enjoying his experience as Captain so far. As the Captain, Sai is not only working on his own game but also trying to learn how to direct and assist the players better.

Sai hasn’t had a chance to interact much with the CoSSAc so far but he believes that they will be helpful and forthcoming. His experience with the institute has been pleasant for the most part. Sai believes that playing carrom does not affect his academics in any way. He plays the game for his own satisfaction and believes that if one enjoys the game, there is no question of any kind of mental exertion which might affect one’s academics. In fact, the game refreshes him and helps him focus – something he truly appreciates.