Noor Passela (Vice President of the Billiards and Snooker Association) - We don’t have a place for the sport. We had our tables at Race Course but we were put out of there. We had four tables there now we have only two tables. There is also a lack of money. We have affiliated clubs but they do not pay the affiliate fees of Rs. 3500 per year. We are looking to make it compulsory for the clubs to pay otherwise they can’t get their licenses. The Sports Ministry is not helping us either. We have sold two tables to send Susantha and two people abroad and we thought the Sports Minister would return that money but still it hasn’t been paid. Now we are accommodated at the Sugathadasa Sports Complex where two used ACs are installed. Now the electricity bill during a tournament will come to about Rs. 80,000. The standard of billiards has really gone down because there is low participation. Snooker of course there are a lot of youngsters willing to play but nobody still can beat Susantha or Sirisoma because most of them just play the game. They don’t have that interest. If you don’t have this interest you can’t beat anybody. We have so many programmes but no-one comes for them. Now last year the Minister gave us some money and we brought a coach from India but nobody tried to benefit from that, only the Army was interested and they all participated. Currently there is a ranking system. If you are well ranked even the Sports Minister has said that he will help. Just going abroad and losing and coming back is no good. You must go up and that is what we also want. As council members we have paid for the sport out of our own pockets. This time Susantha got the ticket money from the minister but all other expenses were given by the Federation. So what help we can give we are giving. Our president, Rajabdeen, has told the Sports Minister to give us a piece of land anywhere. Now Mr. Rajabdeen is a Vice President of the Asian body and they have promised him they will give him tables. To improve the sport we must get land and get more tables. If they can’t find a place we should get our same place at Race Course back. They also get us to move our tables but these are not ordinary tables. You need about 10 people to move them, and the cloth can get damaged. So the problem is you can’t just take it and go just like that, it’s not like any other table. They are very professionally done. Another thing that is important is AC. So having about three or four ACs running while you’re playing will cost a lot of money. So because of all these problems we can’t think about development programmes and things like that.

Shafeek Rajabdeen (President of Sri Lankan Billiards and Snooker Association) - The game in Sri Lanka has not improved because of the changes in the world game from 15-ball red to six-ball red. Then billiards from one hour to three hour games has come to 100 points and we found that the games which are played in the clubs are mostly bet games and no serious games are going on. Since of late we have been asked to shift by Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Race Course. It’s not like carom or cards. Our tables are more than two tonnes. We need a fully air conditioned arena and we spent almost two million making it. When the Race Course came up for renovation we had to move almost overnight. We moved four tables to the Sugathadasa Stadium Sports Hotel, from which we assembled two tables. The tables were getting dilapidated so we sold them and put the money in a fixed deposit account. We see Mr. Susantha Boteju and Mr. K.H Sirisoma who have been champions for the last several years. They have studied the game so they are more skillful than newcomers. They have mastered the game but they have not come to the international standard. According to the Sri Lankan standard Sirisoma is the best. According to Sri Lankan standard Boteju is the best but when they go to the international arena they get wiped out in the preliminary rounds. There is no development. The government must give us support. We got down an Indian coach. We played nearly Rs. 800,000 for this training programme but the boys who got selected to play said they had no time to come and train. The players are not consistently interested in getting trained. We can’t force them. There is a lack of interest because in this game there is no prize money and there is not much you can give. But last year I was in London for the World Championship for Billiards. We got two players ready but when we sent the application form to the embassy they turned it down because they won’t just let you go to London. They say the chances are that these guys who go to London won’t come back. When I was elected Vice President of the South Asian Federation they said why don’t you send your players out? If it is somewhere in Bangkok, India, Pakistan or somewhere close by we can send but if you’re playing in some place like London it will cost half a million for us to send them. We don’t have Rs. 500,000. When we ask the Ministry, they will give a ticket. We have to find accommodation and give the allowance; the visa also is very costly. But we took our team to Bulgaria last year. Our boys they don’t take things seriously. Susantha is not a person who has taken this game seriously. For him it is a trip abroad, meeting all his old friends there, having a good time in the night, not sleeping early, coming late to the games and we have no control over this. The last Billiards and Snooker World Championships was hosted on the top floor of a hotel. On the ground floor of the hotel there was a casino. Players were getting free food and drinks at the casino. Our Sri Lankan players were highly undisciplined. They played till morning in the casino, eating and drinking. So they weren’t ready to play the next day and in the preliminary rounds the members of the Sri Lankan team were out. I came and complained about it to the board and said look these boys are not properly disciplined. For them it is a good trip to go to the capital city of a country, they get free tickets. They get an allowance. But if I go and bring disciplinary action against him (Susantha) he will run to the Minister and say, “Look the President and the Board are trying to penalize me, I am the only talented player.”

Susantha Boteju (16 times national snooker champion) - I have seen many individuals come in and go during the past three decades or so, as players and officials. My heart knows that I owe a lot to many in the trade, for guiding me to become the national snooker champion in Sri Lanka at 16 occasions. I have been ranked fourth in Asia and 16th in the world. If I should give any credit to anyone, it should be my fellow players and the former greats who kept my momentum intact. Why I say that is, except for a handful of officials at the Billiards and Snooker Association of Sri Lanka, many of them in the past and even now, are just mere passengers. They are here on a tour, just trying to enjoy their tenure in office to the maximum, while sightseeing every possible glimpse. What they have failed to understand is the most important cog in the wheel, the player. The player, who is I, fight, thrive, sweat and in the end try to bring some glory to the sport and at the same time to the country. By simply doing nothing, the officials come in numbers to take all credit on to their platter. The main drawback in billiards and snooker nowadays is the inefficiency of its officials. This has made the BSASL a dead entity in Sri Lankan sports. There was a time when billiards and snooker was the pick of sports in Sri Lanka. But the gradual death it is yielding into, has given us players nothing but broken hearts. Besides creating a bunch of unhappy players, the officials have failed to secure the trust of other stakeholders, such as sponsors. The main reason behind this is the sluggishness and uninspiring conduct of the officials. As a player who has won 16 national snooker titles, took part in 10 World Cups and being thwarted of taking part in 10 more World Cups, I don’t see any other reason than the shortsightedness of the officials. The only redemption I personally see at the moment is that we need the more experienced young ones to take the reins in office. Of course there were times we as players could have at least hoped of being revived. We thought it was on the verge of taking place in 2006 but unfortunately it never occurred. Since then the situation is just dragging one step farther into the depth. Oddly the present day players are experiencing all the woes that they could experience in a lifetime. What is mistakenly underrated is the value of players, who are the asset in any sport. But in billiards and snooker the players are treated like culprits. In addition the officials don’t go beyond the national billiards and national snooker tournaments. And there were occasions when they skipped doing both. At the moment apart from one or two individuals, most of them bare outdated strategies. We need new thinkers, who are young, energetic and with a long term vision. Unlike those in office at present, who are champions in ducking out at all their responsibilities and jumping off to grab the honours for whatever they never did, the ones who take over should take the responsibility. They should be serious in what they do. Above all the magic word that is needed to enact is ‘respect’. Nowadays officials do not respect the players and as a result they don’t get the due respect in return. It’s also important to respect others’ opinions, which is hardly taking place at present. Things will all dilute once officials start thinking positively. It will routinely enhance the players and others following. Then there should be a series of good and effective competitions, so players will be engaged the whole year. When it’s in place sponsors will have the trust to come forward and grant their support and at the same time youngsters will have the confidence to take into cue sports. All these must support with a good and friendly environment for players to continue in their endeavors. My opinion is that it’s time that billiards and snooker turn professional in Sri Lanka. It’s being far too long hanging around hoping for the best. Our officials are waiting till the wonder to take place, but in reality it’s their responsibility to perform the wonder and take the sport into greater heights.

K.H. Sirisoma (22 times national billiards champion) - I’m engaged in billiards for the past four decades. I’ve been privileged to meet and talk to the great maestro M.J.M. Lafir, who won the first World Cup for Sri Lanka in 1973 in person and even got tips from him. Then for me as a youngster it was a big achievement. The game despite of not having the best of luxuries was a well respected and well recognised sport in Sri Lanka. Then there were competitions, which we took pride in competing at and the fact if one won it or lost it was immaterial. Players took great pride in taking part, especially alongside the greats of the game. Today I’m considered as the best in billiards in Sri Lanka but I really do not think I can boast about the development of the game the same way as the great Lafir did. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not we must accept the fact that the game has deteriorated to a greater degree. Everyone including I should equally take the blame for it. But as players there is a limit we can offer. We cannot go beyond our authorities, who are at the Billiards and Snooker Association of Sri Lanka (BSASL). What is evidently seen today is the lack of competitions in Sri Lanka, besides the national billiards and national snooker championships. These are the core tournaments of BSASL. I have travelled to other countries and in India, for instant; the players are highly engaged in competitions throughout the year. Their structure is so powerful that they have the capacity of grooming world class players every now and then. Besides that, even if there were more competitions players are not guaranteed with reasonable prize money. There were regular sponsors who continued to support the national events but as far as I’m concerned funds were barely sufficient to cover the overheads and the winners were not guaranteed with reasonable prize money. Today we have got a new sponsor but still the problem stagnates. My opinion is that these barriers should change in order to give the sponsors more prominent, the players more confident and as a result the game would grow, especially among the youngsters. In addition officials who were in office and those who are in at present should treat the cue sports with broader vision. There were times when national championships were not held in the past due to reasons better known to them. But at least today it is a pleasing fact that at least the two main competitions in our calendar are being held. But the question is if these things really helped the game to expand, to reach among the next generation. I love this sport and I could engage in this sport because I am employed by a sport-friendly institution. My employers were flexible in my sporting endeavors and that helped me reach this height. But what about others, in the past and at present. There were many, highly talented than me, who opted to leave the country and look for greener pasture in the West. Some of them are now professionals in Europe. I would rate them as true winners in a way. If the local officials really had the genuine desire to overcome the issues and take billiards and snooker to a far better level, the two sports would not have been at this level today. My view is that the BSASL should include officials with genuine desie to develop the sport. They should have a comprehensive blue print to develop the sport. They may have their plans but it should be transparent and they should make use of the top players to help the younger talent groom. If they can do it, conducting more tournaments with good quality sponsors will be an easy fact. These developments may take time to cement, but it will give the outsiders a positive picture on the sport. If we can get together to paint that picture, everyone will like to look at it and admire it.