12 August,2024 05:48 PM IST | Mumbai | Sundarii Iyer
Khar Gymkhana’s SL Sathe (right) with Kolhapur’s Anil Kumar, whom he lost 1-4 in the Senior Snooker second-round match at Khar Gymkhana recently
Age is just a number. And Khar Gymkhana cueist SL Sathe, who turns 90 on August 16, truly embodies that. Last week, Sathe lost 1-4 to Kolhapur's Anil Kumar, 55, in the Senior Snooker second-round match of the Western India Billiards and Snooker Championships at the Khar Gymkhana billiards hall. Sathe is an architect by profession and turns a keen snooker player by evening. The octogenarian, who will soon be a nonagenarian, said it is more about participation than anything else. It was only after Sparsh Pherwani, Khar Gymkhana's billiards secretary and two-time Asian snooker champion Yasin Merchant urged him to participate, he readily agreed. "If not for Sparsh and Yasin, I wouldn't have played the tournament. Though I enjoy the thrill of competing, I prefer to stay away. Plus, it is a home tournament so I couldn't miss that opportunity."
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The photogallery here
Recalling his journey into the sport, Sathe told www.mid-day.com: "I play snooker for fun and it is my hobby. But yes, the sport has taught me a lot. I was a badminton player before I was bitten by the snooker bug. I have playing snooker regularly every evening since the late 1960s. It was in the early 1960s that my brother-in-law, PD Damle bought a cue when he returned to India from Glasgow. He taught me how to play the sport and I am still using the same cue. Back in those days, when my office was near Flora Fountain, I used to play at Bombay Gymkhana. Right next to my table, the legendary Wilson Jones used to do his coaching and on days when my shots were good, he would congratulate me. I can never forget that."
In the 1970s, when he shifted his office from South Mumbai to Bandra, he became a member of the Khar Gymkhana and prefers to spend his evenings at the snooker table daily. Talking about his routine, Sathe explained: "I believe in having discipline in my life. Thanks to the routine I am able to stay fit and continue doing everything till date. I stopped my practice in 2002 I am a visiting professor at an architecture college. I am back home after my lectures by 11.30 am. I have lunch, take a nap to recoup. Once I wake up I check my emails and do other chores. By 5.30 pm I reach the billiards hall to play for an hour or two. By 8.30 or 9 pm I am home, have dinner, watch TV and off to bed," he signed off.
