9 Ball Pool National, India 2015, What an experience!
I remember last year when I was in the process of organising the 9 Ball Pool Nationals in India, my first even event I must have knocked on the doors of over 50 companies in Hyderabad, some with National presence and rest very active on the local front. For nearly 7 months all I was doing is sharing the sponsorship deck, not knowing that it was a total and utter waste of my time.
I came across 3 kinds of people during the process. Some who came forward and agreed to being a sponsor and not responding when it was time to pay up, some who just shunned me off telling me one thing, please let me know if you are going to organise any Cricket event, we will definitely be a part of it and the third kind who kept me hanging in till the last minute and all they had to say was sorry buddy next time.
The kind of questions I heard from so many people, it was really disappointing to hear what they felt about the sport. We live around people who only look to get the maximum benefit with minimum or no contribution at all. Some asked, who is going to be at the event, will there be any celebrity (influencer) visiting anytime, what will be the total number of eyeballs as your sport is not followed much?
Yes I am asking you for money so that I am able to grow the sport, it cannot be a one man show. Our own government makes you run in and out and in the end you are told that sorry buddy, it is not an Olympic associated sport. Does that mean the sport should not exist or be played.
Nevertheless the event still happened and it was one of a kind our country must have witnessed in Cue Sports in the last 15 years of being a part of it. I would like to thank all the sponsors who did come and support the event Inorbit Mall who gave us great visibility and a centre stage presence with the central atrium during their peak Winter Holiday season, without you we would not have been able to create such an event, Tables sponsored by team Sharma Billiards from Delhi, without whom it would have been difficult to run the show, I mean how could we play if we didn't have any tables, Telangana Cue Sports Association to give me a chance to organise the tournament with their support especially by Mr K Apparao Joint Secretary, who was with me all throughout the event offering the best support I could ever imagine, he single handed managed the complete setup with his years of experience, Mr Anand and team who spent sleepless nights in assembling the tables for the matches to go smoothly, Team Smaaash our closing day sponsor who organised a great dinner for the players and the guests, Mr Prakash and Mr Sameer who were there to support the entire smooth process flow, Mr Ravi Mandva Secretary Telangana Assciation, who gave me the courage to not step back from going through with the tournament, Mr Balasubramaniam, Secretary Billiards & Snooker Federation of India, for believing in me and the team, Telangana Tourism who did offer to financially support us, awaiting a response soon, the Press and Media for giving us a great coverage, Team Network Bug who helped me build a great website and suport me with great participation and finally I would like to thank the Players without whom there would have been no tournament.
Congratulation to Mr Himanshu Jain of Hyderabad on getting his first Mens 9 Ball National Title and Ms Meenal Thakur of Mumbai who secured the Ladies 9 Ball National Title for the year 2015. Wish you guys all the success.
It was a great learning during the way, apologies to all if there were any errors, I will definitely do my best to overcome them.
I look forward to creating many more such events and do my best in making this sport a big success in India.
Contact me for any details.
www.indianpoolnationals.com