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Not professional enough
WHERE IS Chennai on the professional bowling map? Vimal Shankar, a professional bowler, carried all before him at the Metro Fire Bowling Championship in Delhi sometime ago. But the jewel in his crown is his performance at the national championships in Hyderabad, where he finished third. He says, "Chennai does not have many professional players. The bowling scene in the city could be a lot better," he says. Where do the other cities stand vis-à-vis Chennai? Bangalore and Hyderabad are ahead of Chennai, say a few professionals you meet at Snow Bowling, a bowling alley on Nungambakkam High Road.
"Delhi and Mumbai keep sweeping the national championships. But that is no reason for wonderment as these cities already had many dab hands at bowling even before Chennai tuned in to bowling. While bowling is decades-old in these cities, it is just four-years old in Chennai," explains Pawan Voora, a professional.
Vimal says the bowling scenario in the country is murky. "Bowling balls have to be drilled to suit the player's fingers. In India, we do not have many drillers," he says. "Another issue is the expenditure. The bowling kit costs a lot. Professionals use two balls - straight ball and reaction ball. The straight ball costs Rs. 4,000 upward while the reaction ball, Rs. 7,000 upward. A pair of bowling shoes costs Rs. 2,500."
The charges at bowling alleys are also a deterrent to aspiring bowlers. Another "forbidding factor" is the lack of recognition. Even if the professionals hit big time, they are not going to be big enough to attract the public gaze. However, with many professional players these realities do not weigh much. Though the reward at the end of the road may not be big enough, they carry on with the game. Professionals such as Umashankar, Vimal and Pawan hang out at the city's bowling alleys, striking sparks off each other as they perfect their art. As a ray of hope, a group comprising professional bowlers has formed the Chennai Tenpin Bowling Association (CTBA), a non-profit organisation that hopes to promote the sport in the city.
Two years ago, Umashankar decided to give bowling a whirl, and realised he was destined for a long innings with the game. Others have similar stories to tell. For them, bowling is its own reward. Their eyes are on the ten pins, nothing else.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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