About Carrom Board Game –
The game of carrom is played on a flat and extremely smooth board. The shape of the board is square. At each corner of the board, there are four pockets. The acrylic striker (which is 2 times heavier than the other carrom men) pushes the carrom pieces (called carrom men) into the four pockets.
At the starting of the game, there are 9 white or light colored carrom men and 9 black or dark colored carrom men. The one pink colored carrom men called “queen” is placed at the exact center of the carrom board. The white and black carrom men set in a two concentric circle with alternative colors. Moreover, near the big circle, a foul line is also originated.
When the carrom player flicks the plastic striker towards the other white, black, pink carrom men and one of the carrom men sinks in any one of the pocket places at the four corners of the carrom board, then an attempting shot called strike is made.
The player can win the game only when he/she may cover the queen as well. If you cover the queen, and in the next shot you do not score any other carrom men, then you have to return the queen and place the queen at the center of the board again. To make the top surface of the carrom board smooth, most of the folks use talcum powder.
If you find this game interesting to play, then you can easily purchase carrom board online from any of the reliable sports equipment site.
ICF (International Carrom Federation) formation–
In 1988, the International Carrom Federation or ICF was formed and was governed by the Swiss law. After the formation of the International Carrom Federation, the game became more popular than ever before. Even the IFC or International Carrom Federation made some rules that converted the game into a world-recognized competitive sport. Now, the game is played at a high level.
There are various championships or tournaments organized under the guidance of AICF. The tournaments or championships are categorized according to the age groups. The carrom board gained higher position due to its number of championships and tournaments held in various cities and countries.
After the formation of AICF or All India Carrom Federation, the game reached its pinnacles and got more success. The main role of the federation is to organize the championships or tournaments at the National and Inter-State level. The tournament is divided into many categories like Senior National and Inter-State, Junior National and Inter-State, Sub- Junior National and Inter-State championships, Federation Cup tournament, All India ranking Tournament, All India invitation Tournament, Zonal carrom championships, etc.
World’s best carrom players-
Many people built their career by playing indoor games and achieved great success; like in the carrom board game. Many best players in the world are expert in playing the carrom board game. And here we have highlighted the top 9 world’s best carrom players. These are:
S. ilavazhagi (Indian)
S. Ilavazhagi is an Indian player who won the carrom world cup championship twice. She is one of the best players of the carrom game at the International level to represent India. She is the one who had beaten Rashmi Kumari who is a well-known player in India. S. ilavazhagi was from a very poor family before she became the world’s best player in carrom. Now, she is a member of the Thiruvallur District Carrom Association. In 2008, she became the winner of the world championship. She also participated in the carrom world championship held in 2012 and she came out as a runner-up.
Chamil Cooray (Sri Lankan)
Chamil cooray is a famous and well-known carrom player in the world. He has been playing for Sri Lanka from 2004. In 2016, after winning the world carrom championship held in Birmingham, he became the captain of the men’s carrom team. He also became the first Sri Lankan player of carrom who won the title of the Swiss World League. For becoming the one and only player who won the Swiss World League, he also set the record for this title.
Maria Irudayam (Indian)
Maria Irudayam, a player from India, won the World carrom championship twice and also won National championship 9 times. He was also honoured the prestigious Arjuna award given by the Indian government. He won several National and International carrom board championships. In the world carrom cup held at Colombo in 1995, he won the title of men’s singles and even came out as the runner-up.
Rashmi Kumari (Indian)
Rashmi kumara is an Indian player from Bihar. She has been playing since 1992. She is an International carrom championship player. In the National carrom championship held in Mumbai of 17th Inter Institutions, she won the women’s titles. In 1997, she even won the sub-junior championship, in 2000 she won junior national, and in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 she won senior National championship. At the Maldives in 2014, she was the winner of the 4th International carrom championship.
Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lankan)
Nishantha Fernando is a renowned Sri Lankan player of carrom, and even is the world’s number one carrom player. In Sri Lanka, he is acknowledged as a National carrom champion player. In 2012, he won the title of Men’s singles in world carrom championship. He was also considered as the key member of the Sri Lanka team. He is the 2nd player from Sri Lanka in 1973 who did so much hard work to win the world championship.
Ravivarman Sharmila (Indian)
Ravivarman Sharmila, is also known as R. Sharmila. She has amazing skills and concentration on the game. She is the finest player of the Indian National carrom team. She basically belongs from Chennai. When she was of age 8, she started playing carrom and tried to improve her game much enough that helped her to be selected for Sub-Junior team of Carrom in 1992, Tamil Nadu. In 1993, she was the winner of the National Sub-Junior championship. In 1998, 1999, and 2000, she was the winner of Senior National championship also. Even by the score of 3-0, she defeated Sri Lanka in the Independence cup test series. Moreover, she won the title of 3 Federation single Cup.
R. Arokiaraj (Indian)
R. Arokiaraj is a carrom player of the city championship. He is from Chennai, India. He won several National and International carrom competitions. He even won the title of World Championship twice, Runner-up, and singles title in 1991 at New Delhi, India. He was also a member of the team of India who won the 1st World carrom championship. In 1995 at Colombo, Sri Lanka, he won the title of Runner-up, Singles, second world championship. At the Maldives, he was also a member of the Indian team who won the 4th SAARC championship of carrom.
K. Srinivas (Indian)
K. Srinivas is the Indian National champion of carrom. At the Maldives, he won the 4th World carrom Cup. He won many titles in double tournaments and men’s single held in different countries. He was assisted by the Indian National championship of carrom to achieve the crown for his country. He was also honoured for winning the National championship of men’s singles.
Prami Nirmala (Indian)
Prami Nirmala from India is a National carrom as well as International champion player. Since, 1980 she has been playing for her country. She achieved 7 times winner award of state championship, 5 times Senior National, federation cup 4 times, and LIC all India championship 11 times. In 1994, 1998, and 2002, she was the winner of Indo- Sri Lanka test series. In 1995 and 2000, she was the runner-up of World carrom championship.
Final words-
The game of carrom was originated from the Indian sub-continent. It is a very demanding and popular indoor game. The game is played in about 50 different countries. But this game is very popular in India. Due to this, the demand for carrom boards is also escalating and people look out for conventional and carrom board online buying options.
In the above-mentioned list, several players are mostly from India and are considered as the world’s best carrom players.