The Mega Marathon Carrom, jointly organised by the Andhra State Carrom Association (ASCA) and Hyderabad Carrom Association, was held at Dandamudi Rajagopal Rao Municipal Corporation (DRRMC) Indoor stadium in Hyderabad.
Allada Pavan and Husna Sameera, who are two widely recognized international carrom players and Limca Book of World Record holders, actively played the indoor game for a world record time of 43 hours 45 minutes and 56 seconds.
On December 25th, Sunday, the mega marathon carrom match was inaugurated by Vijayawada city Mayor Koneru Sridhar. The mayor opined that because the carrom marathon is being conducted on Christmas, it will surely bring success to the game.
While giving his best wishes to Husna Sameera and Allada Pavan, he also conveyed gratitude and appreciation towards both the carrom associations for conducting the event in Hyderabad.
“Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) chairman PR Mohan said that the state government has adopted a new sports policy to develop the sports and games in the state.” Mayor Koneru Sridhar said.
“The government is mooted to strengthen the sports and games from village level to state level and it would give good results on National and International levels”, he added.
The Technical Director of All India Carrom Association also added that there will be a 20 minutes break after every 4 hours during the marathon.
The event was conducted in the presence of chief Coordinator of Guinness book of World records, squadron leader Jayasimha.
“As per the guidelines of the book, players are allowed five minutes of rest for every one hour. These two players are allowed to take 20 minutes for every four hours,” said Jayasimha.
Jaysimha, who is also the chairman of the National Memory Council of India, said that carrom players Sameera and Pavan were trained over the course of a month with great emphasis on practice, yoga, diet and sleep.
Speaking to The Hindu, he also talked about a meeting, which took place between the carrom administrators and player’s parents, before the event.
He also added that after 12 hours, the players will go through a special and compulsory medical examination including blood pressure, sugar levels and pulse rate tests to avoid any undesirable consequences.
“An ambulance is always available at the venue in case of any emergency,” he added.
Jaysimha also talked about the issue of the development and acceptance of various sports in India and how the youngsters today concentrate more on studies despite being passionate about sports.
“In the Rio Olympics, India could win just two medals whereas several smaller countries won many. The reason is lack of awareness, promotion and participation of youngsters in sports.” Jaysimha remarked.
The ‘carrom marathon’ concluded on 26th December, Monday.
