Behaviour with the umpire, spectators, opponents; the role of luck and punctuality at the table.
DICIPLINE
Behaviour
Punctuality BEHAVIOR
Behavior of a player is very important.
Behavior with umpire
I have seen some players talking very rudely with umpires thereby spoiling relation with them. I really don’t understand why players misbehave with umpires? What do they gain? Sometimes players feel that they know rules in a better way than umpire and therefore they argue. I tell you, in no other game the facility of calling chief referee can be availed of by any player as is availed in this game. If you are not satisfied with umpire’s decision you can call chief referee. Even if chief referee’s decision also goes against you then you have a right to play on their protest by paying protest fees and lodging a protest in writing, quoting the incident and the rule. Such a facility is not available in any other sport if such a protection is given to you why should you argue with the umpire? On the other hand if you behave nicely with the umpire, he/she will have a respect for you. I have seen Suhas Kambli, five times national champion from Mumbai behaving with the umpire in such a way that every umpire was eager to refer his match. We had never any problem with any umpire even sometimes he was a good friend of our opponents. In tournaments held in Maharashtra I had requested many times friends of my opponents to refer matches in spite of knowing that they were well-wishers of my opponents. I never faced any problem with any one of them. If you have good intentions nothing wrong will happen to you. In olden days the organizers of the tournament used to level the boards before the match. I sat on my match in Madras (Chennai) and immediately realized that our board was not properly leveled. I asked our umpire to give me packing for leveling the board but the umpire was reluctant to give packing saying that the board was already leveled. My opponent also agreed for leveling
the board but the umpire did not listen to our request. The slope on one side was so much that we could not have given our best to the spectators. I did a trick. I asked the umpire politely about his plying carrom. He said that he was plating carrom regularly. I requested him to sit on my seat. I placed one coin at the opposite pocket near to the opposite frame and asked him to play it slowly. He very confidently took striker from his pocket and played the coin but to his surprise his striker did not hit the coin, instead it went into the pocket. Then without saying anything he went from the board and brought the packing. The spectators were watching the drama; I felt that the atmosphere was tense I immediately said sorry to the umpire for convincing him in that manner. He was so pleased of hearing my words “Sorry” and immediately replied, “Sir, you were right I was wrong” After the match was over I took him for the cup of tea and told him everything about the level of the board and how to do it correctly. He was very pleased of getting knowledge of level in the board. He then became very good friend of mine. Therefore I don’t feel that there is any loss by behaving nice with umpire.
Behaviour with spectators
How to behave with spectators is a great problem for many players. You should understand the basic thing that the spectators are your inspiration. A true champion will never enjoy a match without the presence of spectators. You gain confidence when spectators applause for your good stroke. Sometimes you get disturbed by spectators due to much crowd. At this juncture you should not lose your temper. You can simply request them not to disturb you. Once I was playing state championship doubles final. My partner was Ramesh Chitty. Our opponents were Suhas Kambli and Vijay Sangam. Both the pairs were strong. We had a chance of creating record of a hat trick. Arrangements of the stands were made but the crowd was
so much that for each stroke all of us were requesting them to get back and allow us to play. They were controlling themselves. We knew that they could not stand properly due to tremendous pressure. The match lasted for nearly three hours. Due to understanding of all the four players there was no rift between players and spectators.
The area of carrom is very small as compared to table tennis or billiards and therefore generally spectators are very near to you. Sometimes some spectators make comments. Any comments should not disturb you. You should behave in such a nice way that those bad comments will never come to you. If you get angry and lose your temper, then more bad comments will come from them. I quote here the classic example of Vijay Sangam a well-known carrom player from Maharashtra. In Vanmali hall tournament at Dadar, Mumbai, Vijay Sangam was playing against Suhas Kambli. One mischievous spectator loudly said to Sangam as kala patthar (black stone) during the match knowing that the crowd was so much and Sangam would not be able to identify him. Can you guess what Sangam did? He did not get angry but he simply saw in the crowd from where the sound came and gave a wonderful smile. The person who had commented fall so much ashamed that after the incident not a single comment came from him or any other person. After the match was over he came to Sangam and apologized. You should always have a great respect for the spectators as they come from a far distance paying for a ticket to watch your match. You should speak to them politely. They don’t expect anything more than that. If you speak to them giving them respect they enjoy it. They become your fans. 80 Year old gentleman was coming to witness my match. When I used to see him before the match I was always going to him before he came to me and was enquiring about his health and praised him for his
interest in the game. He was feeling very happy when we were meeting in the tournament. I cannot express in words what satisfaction I was getting to see him happy. When you will feel it, you will enjoy it.
Luck
In every game, luck factor is there. In carrom also with good game little luck also is required to win crucial matches. Where this luck comes from? It comes from the blessings of your fans and well- wishers. They always pray for your win. How will you feel when a person comes to you and says that he watched your match 36 years back and had enjoyed it very much? Yes, it happened to me when I went as a coach to Hyderabad in 1995, an old gentleman came to me and told me that he had watched my match in 1959 nationals and had enjoyed. He came to the tournament hall after coming to know that I had come to city of Hyderabad. I was surprised. I was very happy to know that one of my fans came after 36 years to meet me with love. I told him to wait for some time as one of our players was playing a crucial match. As soon as the match was finished I congratulated my player and went out with my old fan for a cup of tea. We enjoyed time and had a discussion of the game. I had the same experience in Madras. This time 75 years of my old fan was describing my game quoting the board no. on which I had played in a match many years back. He described the full match, board by board and what strokes I played in each board.
Behaviors with opponents
When you sit to play a match then any player is your opponent. During the match your aim is to win. I have seen today’s generation not appreciating their opponent’s good strokes even in the practice thinking that if they appreciate,
their opponents will play much better and therefore they do not show any expression on their face. In our days even if we were appreciating our opponents we were winning tournaments. Take the example of Suhas Kambli. He was appreciating his opponent’s good strokes even then he won five National championships. Apparao was another example. That in spite of appreciating his opponents he won three National championships in a row. Therefore the concept of not appreciating opponent is wrong.
During the match you are the opponents to each other’s but after the match you should be friends. This will show your sportsmanship.
Popularity is temporary. Respect is timeless. The only way you can get respect is to earn it. You can’t get respect by demanding. You get respect by your behavior and your work.
Punctuality
You should be punctual all the time whether you are going for the match or at work. Punctuality is a habit and you should develop it. If you are punctual in your life then you will see how many benefits are there. I and Ramesh Chitty, my doubles partner played lot of exhibition matches. We were deciding to meet at a particular spot at a particular time and were going together for the exhibition match. We were very particular about the timing and were never late. The best example of punctuality I have seen is D> Nazir, president Maldives. He had conducted coaching camp for his players. I was invited as a coach I still remember it that he used to start the session exactly on time and close it on time.