25th U.S. National Carrom Championship Scheduled for October

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The silver jubilee edition of the US National Carrom Championship will be held between Oct 29 – 31, 2021 at Baymont by Wyndham Pompton Plains, in Wayne, New Jersey.

The United States Carrom Association (USCA), which is organizing the event, was established as far back as in July 1995. It views Carrom as the ‘numero uno’ indoor game for all age groups alongside the classics such as Ludo, Snakes & Ladders.

“Carrom is not just a game but positive addiction for both kids and adults alike,” the USCA said in a July 22 press release.

The championship will be held for both Singles and Doubles.

The current office-holders at USCA include Atul Bhave, president, Abul Shakeel Baig, vice president, Oscar Phillips, secretary, and Chakradhar Pillala, treasurer.

For Singles, all players will be divided into two equal groups. Every player will play seven rounds of Swiss Round Robin (SRR) games, within their group.

Each round of SRR will be played as a single game to 25 points or 8 boards or 45 minutes (40 mins + 5 mins grace), whichever happens first. If the scores are tied at the end of 8 boards or 45 minutes, an extra board will

be played as tie-breaker to determine the winner. Strike for the tie-breaker board will be decided based on a toss.

After the SRR, players ranked 1-8 from each group will move on to play in the Pre-Quarterfinals of the Champions league (a.k.a Group A). Matchups will be Group 1/Rank 1 vs Group 2/Rank 8, Group 1/Rank 2 vs Group 2/Rank 7, and so on.

Players ranked 9-16 from each group will move on to play in the Pre-Quarterfinals of Challengers league (a.k.a Group B). Matchups will be Group 1/Rank 9 vs Group 2/Rank 16, Group 1/Rank 10 vs Group 2/Rank 15, and so on.

All knock-out matches (Pre-Quarters, Quarters, Semis & Finals) will be played as best of three games.  Each game in the best of three will be played to 25 points or 8 boards, whichever happens first.

There will be no time limit per game. However, the entire match (best of 3 games) will have a time limit of 145 minutes. At the end of 145 minutes, the player leading on the scorecard will be declared the winner.

For Doubles, all teams will play Swiss Round Robin (SRR) in one group.

Every team will play 6 rounds of SRR.  Each round of SRR will be played as a single game to 25 points or 8 boards or 45 minutes (40 mins + 5 mins grace), whichever happens first.

If the scores are tied at the end of 8 boards or 45 minutes, an extra board will be played as a tie-breaker to determine the winner. Strike for the tie-breaker board will be decided based on a toss.

After the SRR, teams ranked 1-8 will move on to play in the Quarterfinals of the Champions league (a.k.a Group A). Matchups will be 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, and so on.

Teams ranked 9-16 will move on to play in the Quarterfinals of Challengers league (a.k.a Group B). Matchups will be 9 vs 16, 10 vs 15, and so on.

There will be no Pre-Quarterfinals in the Doubles event. All knock-out matches (Quarters, Semis & Finals) will be played as best of three games.

Each game in the best of three will be played to 25 points or 8 boards, whichever happens first. There will be no time limit per game.

However, the entire match (best of 3 games) will have a time limit of 145 minutes. At the end of 145 minutes, the team leading on the scorecard will be declared winners.

For more information visit www.urcarrom.org

For queries and to register for the tournament – please call Oscar Philips, secretary of USCA at +1-973-452-2446. Or, email at secretary@uscarrom.org.

If you are an entrepreneur/organization/individual who would like to support the cause of carrom in the United States through sponsorship, contactl Abul Shakeel, vice president of USCA at +1-347-662-9634. Or, email at shak201@gmail.com.

For all other queries and/or information about United States Carrom Association, contact Atul Bhave, president of USCA at +1-732-887-3344. Or, email at info@uscarrom.org.

The USCA was founded by the foursome Billy Stevens, Dave MacCrellish, Sam Mallisetti and Hasmukh Patel 26 years ago this month,

The mission of the USCA as spelt out in the press release, is to:

1. Promote Carrom by reigniting passion for the game in the Asian-Americans and other enthusiasts across the length and breadth of the United States.1
2. Set up a platform to foster the ever-growing carrom talent with competitive year-round tournaments and championships to be conducted by various regional carrom associations under its agies.

3. An ambitious and audacious goal is to introduce, integrate, and nurture carrom as an indoor game in every household all over the United States.

Among the many tournaments, the USCA has held three International Tournaments (Raleigh, NC in 1996, Atlantic City, NJ  in 2003, and 3rd World Cup in Richmond, VA in 2010) and many more satellite tournaments across the United States.