More Popular among all people as a recreational sport especially during vacation
time, the origin of the game is obscure. It has also been referred to as 'finger
billiards'. While the game took an international hue with the formation of the
International Carrom Federation in 1988, the National Federation has been in existence
since 1955. P. Appa Rao of Andhra Pradesh emerged as the champion in the first national
meet held at Nagpur in 1956. The women's national competition was introduced in 1959 and
Linda Pinto of Maharashtra was crowned the carrom queen of India.
In an international meet held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 20 to 27 December 1961, the
Indian team led by P. Bangaru Babu won the men's and women's titles. The team comprised K.
Paramasivan, J. Kumaravelu, Y. Vardaiah, Sheila Menon and Malathi Menon. |