Carrom is the most innovative board game played indoors in maximum households across south Asia. To play, all you need is a board, tokens for the match, and a killer instinct for aiming and precision, which is acquired by regular practice with your friends and colleagues. However, to excel as a player, you need to put in some elbow grease to make the best shots happen for you.
After the pandemic, people shifted mostly to online portals for gaming as social distancing has made it impossible to enjoy the love for carrom in a closed room. To play this age-old game
with people across other continents, players have to download carrom app from the proper websites onto their handheld devices. The joy spread because of playing carrom is immense and has brought people with the same interests together in a manner of true escape from other monotonous mobile games.
Let us discuss below how some of the best carrom players, like Maria Irudayam, mesmerized us with their godly skills and gave birth to our undying love for the game.
A.Maria Irudayam
Beginning with the best, the general public outside of the professional carrom-playing world has hardly come across this skillful player from the southernmost part of India. It is a shame
that these players are hardly known throughout the land and gain little to no recognition from the nation.
Irudayam is the winner of the most prestigious award in India, the Arjuna awardee, for his contribution to the world of carrom. Since news of carrom flies under the radar, it is impossible to guess that Irudayam was awarded the national title eight times and the world championship two times. He has also painstakingly played at the top level throughout his career, where he won several championships like the SAARC, and French Open, among
others. He is not the overhyped personality that some might assume him to be, but he is appreciated and deserving of the respect after having bested so many greats in this game of skill
K. Srinivas
Srinivas also hails from the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent. He is the hero of the present generation of carrom players, and his statistics in the recent performances are mindblowing. His last performance in the year 2021 saw him win two back-to-back slams. He has won many titles that equally include double and singles tournaments worldwide. Last time in
the Maldives, he won the 4th carrom World Cup installment. Srinivas also won the national men’s singles championship. Srinivas has a distinct style of playing where he has created a unique method of breaking to get the most slams in the following turns after his hit. He is an inspirational player, and the newcomers coming to the game can learn many skills and strategies by studying his amazing carrom play.
S. Ilavazhagi
We are not talking only about men here when speaking of carrom talent. Ilavazhagi is a copybook carrom player hailing from the land of Tamil Nadu. She sparked interest in the game very early in her life and has sustained that fire to become a notable carrom player known across the subcontinent. As most of her actions are textbook, it is hard to spot any weakness that the opponent players could exploit in her game. Occasionally called by daily players as the’ Coin Queen,’ she has impressed everyone with her talents and prowess. In addition, she is noted for having a distinct style that nobody can replicate, making her a truly distinct player
that her contemporaries should keep an eye out for.
Rashmi Kumari
Not all the best players hail from the south part of India. Rashmi proves that talent is also hidden in the heart of the country that is in Bihar. Rashmi debuted her career in 1992 as a gem of a carrom player from the mentioned state. Her unique style has taken her to places where she captured second place in the sub-junior national championship for three consecutive years from 1993, 1994, and 1995 and finally grabbed the top spot in 1997. After improving more on her style, she was able to grab the world championship two times in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
Her most recent achievement was the third federation, which puts another feather in her cap. She has established her dominance in carrom by winning the national title around 10 times. Her contribution to the game by discarding her family and everything has made her a prominent figure in the field of carrom and someone young girls should strive to become
Nishantha Fernando
Another Sri Lankan that has spread his magic internationally is NIshantha Fernando. At present, Nishantha is one of the top carrom players in the country. In the world carrom championship, he won the title of the best carrom player. Nishantha surprised everyone by winning the men’s singles of the Carrom World Championship as the first Srilankan from the country. He readily displayed his expertise in the field by guiding the Srilankan carrom team to the World Cup held in England in the year 2016. His unique skills separate him from others as a carrom player with a significant style.
Final Words
Carrom is the most celebrated game in South Asia, and it has a lot of followers across the country. The game has been made even more accessible to interested players through its availability on all online platforms. This has made new players get on with the game and learn more skills while being at it. The list above has the best players who have revolutionized the way the sport is observed and played, and this has made them quite a unique blueprint that
young players should look upto. The list is categorized with all the best players of the sport to give them more recognition across the world of indoor sports
