FOR Shirish Mamhar Chohan (56) a Beitbridge businessman, a game of pool is the best prescription for cleaning his mind.
The game, he says, has since his childhood, lifted his moods and made him relax or remove any stress, be it business or otherwise.
As a newly-wed, Chohan shared his love for pool with his wife Bhamini, who he taught to play the game while telling her that he wished owning a pool table one day.
Chohan would take his wife to a local hotel, which was one of the first few places in the border town to have pool tables, where he taught her the game.
“At times we would go to the Beitbridge District Club where we played on the large tables,” Bhamini said.
The pool game topped the list of their outdoor life at the same time increased their love for the sport. It became almost addictive.
It was time to bring the sport home.
And in 2012 the couple became proud owners of a pool table, obviously cutting their outdoor life by now playing at home.
The Chohans soon ran a bar and restaurant in Beitbridge where they turned a larger section of their spacious eatery into a pool arena frequented by Beitbridge pool lovers.
In no time they had as many as five tables and turned Beitbridge into the perfect place to host pool tournaments.
Soon the Beitbridge Pool Association (BPA) found a home where teams would assemble for their pool galas and launch of their inaugural league games, lighting up a section of Beitbridge entertainment that has taken over the town.
Chohan now has nine pool tables, all occupied every night, and he has to literally drive out people late at night as many are hooked into the game.
The Chohan’s love for pool games has seen the accommodation destitute street kids, giving them the time and chance to escape delinquency, drug abuse and indiscipline.
Hordes of youths who aimlessly roam the border town often frequent the Chohan’s arena and at times spend the day playing games in an environment that is open and refreshing.
Border officials from different departments also gather here where the language is common and spoken through numerous games, mini competitions and at times day-long tourneys.
“Chohan has been a stepping stone in our quest to make the game of pool grow in Beitbridge. He has enabled it by providing a perfect venue decent enough to host young players who are free in a serene non-violent environment,” chairperson of the BPA Reason Ndove.
“We have managed to groom young players, some of whom have become professionals and have left the country to play this game.
“We have hosted national tournaments at his Jayas Restaurant and he made us proud because the venue is perfect. Those national galas were important in shaping the minds of our young players who saw that pool is a way of life, a decent one too. Interactions with professionals were good for our young association and we don't know how to thank the Chohans for their gesture.”
He said there are 16 teams in Beitbridge and the association was spreading its wings to the rural areas to bring them aboard.
Two national tournaments in 2013 and 2022 were hosted at Jayas Restaurant where famous national pool players featured.
Blessing Zengeya, a BPA tournaments organiser known as Gafa, said it is not easy for someone in business to look away from profit just to develop a sport.
“The initial one-man tournaments were free and he would even feed players from his pocket. He loves sports so much that he drives us. If a tournament has an entrance fee, Chohan pays for many players and he will sit and watch the games till the end. Many of our players owe what they know in this game to his generosity,” Zengeya said.
A female player Privilege Chikova who plays for a rural team from Luyumba said Chohan was one in a million.
“He has encouraged the youths this man and he is a big figure in this game locally, I would even say nationally. He has reformed many street kids by giving them a turf to practise and improve themselves,” she said.
“For me his arena killed my stage fright. I am no longer intimidated. I was shy to play before a big crowd but this has since changed and I can play anywhere even with the big boys and girls of the sport,” she said.
Herbert Chagonda, a clearing agent at Beitbridge who is also chairman of Jayman Pool Club, said he cleared Chohan’s pool tables imported from South Africa.
He does his thing up above board and I have handled most of his imports of tables from South Africa. He gives his clients new pool tables and always buys those recommended professionally.
Asked what drove him, Chohan said he would love to see the sport grow bigger in Beitbridge.
“I hope it will grow bigger and better to take away youths from the streets and bring big names to Beitbridge to play. Beitbridge must be known to contribute players to international status,” he said.
“We must keep abreast with pool etiquette and new developments for us to grow. I will give my all to the development of the sport I love so much,” he said.
“Of late speed tables are the in-thing and I have already purchased one to have local players familiarize themselves and I am positive one day we will breed a champion from this border town,” he said.
Chohan is the treasurer of the BPA and hopes the corporate world will share his vision that sport is a way of life and invest in its development.