What began as an Indian summer pastime has evolved into an international arena where players face off on the humble carrom board for both prestige and national pride.
Singapore was proud on Dec 3, when Lenus Paul, 40, and Ramanpreet Singh Pahwa, 39, clinched bronze in the men’s doubles event at the 7th Carrom World Cup – the country’s first-ever medal in the tournament, which was held in the Maldives in 2025.
“The podium finish was very important to us, so when we won, it was emotional for me,” said Lenus, who also co-founded the Association of Carrom Singapore (ACS) in 2020.
“We are considered underdogs because we are a baby association in the world. Only five years old. The other associations have been around for like 50 to 70 years,” explained Mr Joseph Jiffy, 50, ACS’s secretary-general and the national carrom coach.
Lenus and Ramanpreet had only paired up once before in an international tournament before the World Cup, yet were up against veterans from Bangladesh, MD. Haemat Molla and Hafizur Rahmat, who had competed together for the past 20 years.
“They have been playing international tournaments longer than I have played carrom in my life. When I first played against them two years ago, I felt like a baby. Their strategy, coin selection, and pocketing were better,” Ramanpreet recalled.
“I realised that there was this big gap between us. And to me, that was motivational. I wanted to do something for Singapore and for people like Lenus, Joseph, who had put so much effort into training everyone. It was a dream come true when we won,” he added.
Over 150 players from 17 countries participated in the 7th Carrom World Cup. ACS sent a team of 16 players to represent Singapore across seven categories: men’s and women’s singles, doubles, and team events, as well as the Swiss League, where all the players play as one team.
Though the association was formally established in 2020 with about 20 members, its roots trace back to 2011, when Lenus created a Facebook page called Singapore Carrom Club to connect with fellow players after moving here in 2010 for his job as an investment banker.
The Tamil Nadu native started playing carrom at the age of seven. “During the summers in India, it was too hot to play outside. There were no mobile phones or TV, so the only time pass was cards or carrom,” Lenus said.
Eventually, he started playing on the streets with the neighbouring residents, one of whom recognised his potential and introduced him to M. Nataraj, the winner of the men’s singles title in the first Carrom World Cup in 2001, who coincidentally lived two houses away from Lenus.
“I didn’t really know who he was at the time, but I started playing with him. He corrected my finger techniques and introduced me to his coach. That’s how I got into competitive carrom. I started playing at the district level, then state and national levels,” Lenus recalled.
He had to cease playing tournaments in India after relocating to Singapore. However, he was given a local carrom association contact by the founder of the International Chess Federation based in Chennai.
“There was no phone number, nothing. Just a postal code in Geylang. The only other information I had was that there would be a Vinayagar statue in front of the house. I took a taxi in 2011 to that address and went door to door,” Lenus said.
At a unit on the eighth floor, he saw the foretold statue and cautiously knocked on the door. A man answered and, unfortunately, informed him that the carrom association had been disbanded in the 1990s due to the advent of computerisation.
Determined to play, Lenus decided to revive the local carrom association. That started a long, arduous process of enquiring with the Singapore Sports Council and the Registry of Societies. It took some time to consolidate the funds and the members, but the association officially took form in 2020.
Today, ACS has about 200 members. Participation in local and international tournaments is mostly funded by the membership fees and individual sponsors. An annual membership fee is S$100 while a lifetime membership fee is S$350, which also gives members access to training facilities across the country.
Mr Joseph and Ramanpreet joined ACS in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The Facebook page has since been renamed the Association of Carrom Singapore and now has just under 700 members.
“The next aim is to win a medal in at least four categories, and the endgame is to conquer all seven categories,” said Lenus.
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17 Dec 2025 17:48
