Indian Open or snooker in Bollywoodian style

The Indian Open is about to start

I can almost hear Ozzy Osborne singing "Mama, I'm coming home", as snooker goes back to India, the place where in 1875, in Jubbulpore the Devonshire Regiment, but more precisely subaltern Neville Chamberlain started this beautiful madness we call snooker.

In his book "Can we have our balls back, please?"  - How the British invented sport (and then almost forgot how to play it) Julian Norrige says that one day, as a player missed an easy pot, Chamberlain cried "Why, you're a regular snooker."

And since no-one knew what he meant, Neville reported that "he's recently had a visit from a fellow officer who had trained at the Royal Military Academy from Woolwich. His guest had told him that a brand-new cadet at Woolwich, the lowest of the low, was called 'a snooker'".

Later on, in an interview with Compton Mackenzie, Chamberlain recalled saying: "I added that we were all, so to speak, snookers at the game so it would be very appropriate to call the game snooker."

And that concludes our history lesson for today. Now, go home and study! And do some mashed potatoes, as well!

However, things have changed over the years as snooker has become more and more popular in the UK, rather than anywhere else (well, China but that's another story).

So in this Hearn-age or reinventing/re-making snooker popular, it was only a matter of time before we could see this colourful cue sport returning back home, in India.

To be honest I never thought it will return with a ranking event at first, but it seems like there's much of an interest for snooker here, so why the hell not? I mean if we don't like it we can pack our bags elegantly and never return again (see Brazil).

But let's not get carried away and see this situation as it is: a huge opportunity to expand snooker and raise interest for it in the most far, far-away corners of the planet. We've been Down Under, so why not try it here too?!

I do however fancy a rather sumptuous welcome-back party where all the players are dressed up in Indian saris (although they are suitable for women, but bare with me here) and see them do synchronous dances. Imagine that! I bet John Higgins and Neil Robertson would looks great!!!

All that aside, it can't go unmentioned the fact that for players like Aditya Mehta and Pankaj Advani this is a marvelous chance to play in front of their home crowds, although this puts an enormous pressures on them. 

Aditya will meet the most-ever-grinder Peter Ebdon, while the fate has reserved the Scottish Marcus Campbell for Pankaj. Will they succeed to impress their home crowds or not, it's just a question of time.

So, please put your dancing shoes on, hit the play button and let's move our behinds on Indian music, for snooker is surely going to do the same during the next week! Bollywood snooker to the rescue!