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Queen of the green baize

Pretty tough on herself and with encouragement from friends and fellow sportsmen, Chitra Magimairaj has made it big in the world of cue sports

TRIUMPHANT TALE Chitra Magimairaj has braved an injury and a grave twist in her sporting career to rise to the world championships Photo: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

Ever since her triumph in the Embassy World Billiards championship for women in April, the world is slowly opening up for the intrepid cueist Chitra Magimairaj. Clubs like Sadashivnagar and Koramangala are offering her memberships and sponsors are showing a lot more interest in her profile and few job offers are in the pipeline.

"I won't say the world has changed upside down for me, but it is changing for the better," says Chitra, who is gearing up for the World Team championship at San Jose, as a member of the Indian women's second team.

Life has its ups and downs for everyone, but Chitra's career often oscillated from agony to ecstasy. It was in 1994 that Chitra, who was then a very promising hockey player of Karnataka, suffered a debilitating injury during a match between Sports Hostel, Mysore and BEL Colony Youth Association team. A nasty spill saw her sustain a ligament tear in the right knee. It virtually ended Chitra Magimairaj's career as a hockey player. And for someone who had captained the state team, it was a huge blow.

Long recovery

As she recounts the incident, there is pain in Chitra's face. "I just lay there on the ground and thought it was end of the world. Luckily I had a good doctor (Anant Joshi), who helped me to find my feet, but not before I underwent four surgeries and two and a half years of rehabilitation," says Chitra.

It was during this difficult phase that Chitra started thinking about an alternative sports career, which didn't really need very hard physical skills. Golf and billiards were the two obvious choices. Chitra opted for billiards, because she thought golf was expensive. Moreover, she had access to tables for playing cue sports in ITI Sports Club, as her father Magimairaj was an ITI employee.

Later Arvind Savur, who was then with ITI, spotted Chitra and liked the spark in her. "Savur told me that if I really wanted to make a mark in the game, I should join the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) as a member and start training there. And that's what I did," says Chitra.

She made the transition, braving all odds — from a lack of sponsors to the lack of right partners. .

But 12 years down that road, after that morale-shattering injury on the hockey field, Chitra finds herself on the top of the world as queen of the green baize.

Ironically, Chitra had never won a national title either in billiards or snooker, or for that matter in pool. "It is funny, how I am doing everything backward. Everybody hopes for a world title after winning nationals, but I am going in the reverse direction. My father said `You came home with a Master's degree without attempting the SSLC exams properly!' Seriously speaking, I now aim to win both the senior National snooker and billiards titles," says Chitra.

She gratefully acknowledges the role of coach Raj Mohan of Chennai, who brought about a dramatic change in her fortunes in the game.

Explaining her attitude towards the sport, she says: "I love the sport and I try and learn from every mistake. I am, what you may call, a visual player. I observe not only the way I play, but also others. When I am through with a practice session at KSBA, I hang around to watch senior players like B. Bhaskar or Arvind Savur and more recently, Pankaj Advani. It has been a rewarding experience. I go into a match, not with sole aim of winning, but with the idea of improving every shot, how to get better in-offs, cannon or top-of-the-table play''.

Chitra had to struggle for a sponsor for the Embassy World Championship in UK. "I was depressed after a not-so-good run in the Pool championship in Taipei and I almost called off the trip, but my brother Issai Vanan (a doctor in the US), stepped in to back me on the funds."

More than Chitra, her family and players like Raj Kumar, Jairaj and Satish, and the KSBA member Mr.Nataraj were convinced that she could do wonders in the championship. "They who forced me to play more of billiards than snooker and helped me constantly to fine tune my in-offs and potting and register consistent breaks.," says the champion.

In the championship at Cambridge, victory over defending champion Anuja Thakur enormously boosted her morale and put her on road to title triumph over Emma Boney of England.

The enormity of her achievement did not sink in till she got home. "After the match, I was happy that I had won it. But after reaching Bangalore, I found out how big it was. The kind of media attention and adulation from fans and the KSBA members, and wishes from my idol Geet Sethi made me realise how special the win was," says Chitra.

The triumph at Cambridge also made Chitra to view her career in proper perspective. "I am going to play proper top table billiards, get better breaks, a century perhaps in future and defend my title. My other goals are winning a medal at the Next Asian Games at Doha, where they have the pool event for women for the first time, and the IBSF world snooker title. I wish IBSF (World's governing body for billiards and snooker) also adds billiards to its events, because that would get more women to play billiards around the world," says the champion.

There is no dearth of motivation within Chitra. She virtually drives herself to the edge, even after any setback. "Every time I lose, I punish myself by going to practice for 10 hours. It is my way of reminding myself that I didn't do well, because I didn't practice enough. I am never a quitter.''

But what the new champion needs now is personal coach. "I wish the federation starts sending a reputed coach with the women's team as it always does a world of good to have a coach around giving pep talks and pointing out technical flaws. "

There's certainly a world beyond the green baize for Chitra, who prefers to relax with family members, listening to jazz and watching cartoons. "I normally unwind in that fashion, especially with instrumental music. I plan to learn the guitar and my brother has promised to get me one," signs off the cue ace, before heading back to her second home — the KSBA — for another stint of practice.

Kalyan ashok

KALYAN ASHOK

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