There was a sense of calm in Sourav Kothari’s voice when we called him on Friday afternoon. He had just reached his Calcutta home after winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship, beating Pankaj Advani, in Carlow, Ireland, on Wednesday. He was happy-exhausted but not ready to rest on his laurels, already planning for his next match. In a candid chat, Sourav shared what it meant to match his father Manoj Kothari’s three-decade-old feat, the key moments and more.
Congratulations on your first IBSF World Billiards title!
This is my second world billiards title, but my first IBSF world title. IBSF is the body that is affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association. The IBSF World Billiards, which I won, has seen perhaps the strongest field of participation in many, many years. Every single top player in the world played in this. This is the world title, which my father had won, three-and-a-half decades back. He did not win the professional world title. Only Geet Sethi and Pankaj Advani have won the professional world title, and then me. I’m also the only third person to have won both IBSF and the professional world titles.
What was your mindset while going for the tournament?
This is very special. I also choked at the prize distribution. I mean, I haven’t ever choked like this. You know, the father angle comes, and the amount of blood, sweat and sacrifice. And this was probably the only world title that was missing, you know, because dad had won it. The Arthur Walker trophy, which is a glittering silver trophy, given to the winner of the IBSF World Championship, that trophy was in my house for seven years. Reason being, my father won the trophy in 1990, and between 1990 and 1997, the World Championship was not held. And you will not believe it, every single day I have seen that trophy when I was a little kid, and now I finally won it also. So you can imagine the emotions that are attached to it.
In fact, in 2008, when I was playing the IBSF World Championship, I was on the brink of winning the quarterfinal match, and I had the vision of the Arthur Walker trophy, and a thought crossed my mind that I might lift the Arthur Walker trophy. I was playing so well, and the next shot I missed, and I ended up losing that quarterfinal. You know how our sport is. Even one minutest of disruption in your concentration can result in a miss as good as a mile.
And the same thing happened this time in the finals. I was palpitating. I’m so close to lifting the Arthur Walker trophy, so close to winning the world title. I had the same vision while playing the finals that I’ll be holding that trophy, which I’ve grown up seeing as a small child. When that thing happened, there was a tough shot in front of me, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, don’t tell me, don’t tell me. Please, this can’t be happening right now’.
I never thought about that even once during the whole tournament. Luckily, I was able to really, I mean, under those trying circumstances, pressure, so many people watching, and you’re playing the world final against a player of Pankaj’s capacity… it was incredible. Yeah, the whole feeling and everything that I went through, especially beating David Causier in the semi-final. I mean, he’s a ‘beast’. He is probably, in my opinion, the toughest player to beat in the world billiards circuit, in the last three, four decades, because of the sheer power of scoring. If I can make a break of 100 points in six minutes, he can do that in three minutes. He’s so fast, so mercurial. You can have a 500-point lead against him, and that lead can be reduced to zero in half an hour.
So, the way I started off with him, you know, at the very beginning, a break of 299 and 265, scoring those points in one visit… nobody has imagined that David Causier can be in that kind of a situation where after one-and-a-half hours, he’s on 35. Thirty-five is something that he can score in maybe one-and-a-half minutes. That was I think the key highlight of the victory, and, of course, the 325 break I made with Pankaj within the first 15 minutes of the finals starting, which put him under pressure. Even before you’ve settled into the final, you’re chasing a deficit of 300-odd points. Another key moment in the tournament was the 490 break that I made, which was also the highest break of the tournament. This was in my last group match, after which the knockout starts. So that I made against Nalin Patel. So that instilled the confidence in me that I can go and make a big break, and then afterwards, every round I have made a big break.
The conditions were challenging. Not everyone was being able to produce their best because, you know, brand new conditions, very cold weather, unpredictable tables, so to adjust in those circumstances, and, you know, make 300 breaks every match, I think that was truly incredible. A little unexpected too because you have to really be at the topmost part of your game to be able to deliver that kind of a result.
How would you compare your mindset in 2018 vs 2025?
I think I was more under pressure, maybe this time. There was no expectation when I played (in 2018). In that tournament, also, I beat David Causier in the semi-final after being 500 points down. Now, even when I was 500 points down, I had no pressure in me maybe, honestly speaking, because I was not even expecting that, you know, I’ll be able to beat David Causier after being 500 points down. So I beat him, and then I went into the final, I felt like a feather, honestly. But now, with the IBSF and that pressure of legacy, the way I’ve been playing, so now I was expecting that, you know, I can win this.
That didn’t put extra pressure on you?
I spoke to my dad. If I play 1,000 shots in a match and I play one wrong shot out of those 1,000 shots, my father is not going to compliment me for the 999 good shots I’ve played. He will call me and point out that one shot and say, ‘How could you play this shot?’ This is him, very critical coach, but surprisingly this time also he was pulling out shots, but in general, throughout the time that I was speaking to him, he was sounding like a very different person, like, you know, your rhythm is so good, the short selection is good. And he kept insisting on rhythm… you don’t play too fast, you don’t play too slow. So you are at a very steady pace. You have time to think in between shots. You have time to regroup yourself in between shots, the few seconds that you need. So he felt that my rhythm was very good, and he felt just keep playing and just don’t worry about any result. Just keep playing in this rhythm.
That relaxed me a little bit because I wondered that he thinks that I’m playing well, then I must be playing well. And then I had a 490 break, which made me realise that I can adapt to these conditions, and I can make a big break. And that is exactly what happened throughout the tournament. Every match, I’ve made two or three big breaks, and I’ve put my opponent in the back foot from the beginning.
My father is not a coach who will admire you, who will say, ‘Oh, you’re doing so well’. He is a more critical person, like you know you did well, no problem, but you did that wrong, and this time, that was much lesser than what I faced with him earlier on. It’s not because he wanted to change his stance with me. He genuinely felt that, you know, my rhythm was good, the way I was playing was good. So that instills a bit of faith that, okay, I think I’m going on the right path.
How did you celebrate?
I went to the city centre in Carlow, which is a place where you actually cannot do anything. It is a very small town in Ireland. I went to the city centre. There is a beautiful park over there. I went with some of the players. Then we had dinner together. So nothing great to sing about… no opening champagne bottles or anything like that (laughs). But honestly, after these kind of matches, you are exhausted. If you speak to a chess player after a tournament, they’ll not be able to talk to you.
After my match with David Causier, I had to actually tell somebody to get food for me. We usually used to go to this Indian restaurant to eat, very close, just a 10-minute walk. But that day, I didn’t have it in me to even two hours later go for that Indian meal to that restaurant. So I had to tell somebody to get the food packed for me and bring it.
The day my final finished, that day, at 12 o’clock, I had to leave for the airport. It’s a two-hour drive from Carlow to Dublin Airport, and then I’m already on my way back. Also, I thought I missed my flight connection.
So, now the party is at home?
I have to barely even come to the ranks of the living right now after coming back! (Laughs)
Is winning against a champion like Pankaj Advani special?
No, see, I beat him in the final of the National Championship three months back, right. And now, of course, I won. So, you know this, it’s been a good head-to-head against him. And I’ll be honest with you, I have realised that, you know, as far as settling scores, or taking daggers out against people is that it actually sort of puts me on the back foot. When I get agitated from inside, I start to feel that I’m not being able to focus on my game. I’m thinking of external things….
And believe me, there are so many naysayers. I have won the world title. There are 2,000 people who are writing good things to me. There will be 200 people who will also be talking nonsense. My point is that if you stop at everything that barks at you, you’ll never be able to move forward.
There has been a change in you in the last seven-eight years. You have a different mindset now…
I mean, we’ve had ups and downs in the family with health and everything, and I’ve realised that there are so many other things that are much bigger than the petty things that we sometimes get embroiled in. Like you said, settling scores and things like that, the importance we give to naysayers. I think if we can chill out, basically, take everything with a big pinch of salt, because see if somebody tells you something, you don’t become that…. And also, it’s not a Utopian world we live in. There are a lot of situations where you will feel let down. You will feel that things are not happening to you according to your wish. Honestly, somebody told me this long ago, it’s not about what happens, it’s about how you react.
In the current space, as I’m talking to you, there were things you know, that happened during the tournament, where I had to speak up. I had to say something, because you cannot also always just be like, ‘If you slap me on one side, I’ll put the other side in front of you also’. But, again, you have to choose your battles wisely.