He is worth emulating, take a ‘cue’ from him
LUCKNOW: While teaching technical theatre at the University of Illinois, Chicago Campus in 1981, Lucknow’s Tanuj Kohli did not have the faintest idea that one day he will be an integral part of India’s biggest cue sport league Cue Slam.
But this became reality when he was named coach of the Delhi Dons in the six-team lucrative league, starting August 19 at Ahmedabad with many world greats, including 16-time world champion Pankaj Advani, too would be there to mesmerise fans. Lucknow’s Malkeet Singh is also part of Delhi Don team as a player.
“It’s like a dream come true and I had never thought of any such opportunity in my life,” Kohli told HT on Friday. “The Cue Slam is a great window which should expose the game to an audience who are not aware of the game. Parents will get a chance to see the masters on the table and may get impressed enough to allow their kids to take up the game.”
Kohli, who also happens to be the secretary of the UP Billiards and Snookers Association after playing the game initially just for fun in his life, turned serious for coaching (more like a mentor) with very little knowledge in 2008 at local parlours. Things began changing all of a sudden soon as his guidance helped many youngsters make their presence felt at the national level on green baize.
Sixty two-year-old Kohli, who has so far directed and written over 200 plays across the world especially in Toronto, Vancouver, believes that the format of the Cue Slam has been set up such that it should add visual excitement to the game.
“The money being inducted into the game is a motivating factor for players to improve their game so that they too may play next year’s league. And as the league progresses, hopefully more money will also come making it more competitive and the sport more attractive.”
Lovingly called ‘Uncle’ in the cue sport circle of India, Kohli’s passion for the coaching was such that in 2009 he started the Lucknow Cue Sports Academy in a rented space before shifting it to his own residence the following year. “I am coaching a number of players and even I am available for my players till late in the night and even early in the morning,” said Kohli, who conducted 6 Red Snooker Nationals in 2013 and Snooker and Billiards Nationals in 2014 in the state capital. “Even some players wake me up at five in the morning while training if they have a problem with a shot,” said Kohli, who owns the pride of coaching top players of UP like Mandeep Singh, Shobit Chandra and Akshay Kumar.
“I always look at the game as how I can help a player not to commit mistakes and that’s the secret of my coaching. For me it makes no difference how you take a shot, if you are hitting century breaks. In the Cue Slam, my role would be to motivate a player to put his best foot forward as at this level you can’t teach a player that how they should play.”
Kohli, who got big names of Indian cue sport like Jai Raj, Alan Trigg and Subash Agarwal to Lucknow for coaching local kids, however, admitted that he always wanted to built a cue sports academy with all modern facilities like staying, fooding and exercise. “I am thankful to god that he has given me a chance to be the part of country’s biggest cue sports league, and I would love to set up my dream academy in future,” said Kohli, who runs Green Baize Academy for local players.