Anthony Maria Irudayam (born 1956 in Chennai, India) is a two-time World

Carrom Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin in which players flick discs, attempting to knock them to the corners of the board. The game is very popular in the Indian subcontinent, and is known by various names in different languages. In Sou ...

Champion and nine-time national champion of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award, a sporting honour presented by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, in 1996. As of 2007, he is the only person to have received the award for carrom. He is the current secretary of the Chennai District Carrom Association. He has rued over lack of sponsorship in carrom over the years.

Career

After dropping out of school at the age of 14, he started playing carrom at the age of 17 representing local clubs. He won his first local carrom tournament in 1977. He was encouraged by his family and friends to play carrom against veterans. Several times, he was member of the Indian team winning a team event in a tournament. This was the case with the International Carrom Federation Cup in 1989 and 1997, the World Carrom Championships in 1991, 1995 and 2000, the SAARC Carrom Championship between 1997 and 1999, the US Open International Carrom Tournament in 1996 as well as the French Open International Carrom Tournament in 1998. In addition to this, Irudayam became champion (singles) at the World Carrom Championship in 1991 (where he also became doubles champion with R. Arokiaraj) and 1995, at the Champions Championship in 1998, at the French Open International Carrom Tournament in 1998 as well as at the SAARC Carrom Championship in 1998 (where he also became doubles champion with Jagan Bengle in 1999. In 1995 Carrom World Cup which was held at

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, he won the men's singles title and he emerged as runners-up along with R. Arokiaraj to fellow Indian pair in the men's doubles final. Moreover, Irudayam made the top three in a lot of championships in the 1990s. In the 2000 Carrom World Cup, he finished at fourth position in the men's singles. He was later employed in the Railways. He currently runs and operates his own coaching club in Chennai. He was announced as one of the judges by

All-India Carrom Federation ) is India's national sport federation for the indigenous game of carrom, sanctioning six to seven national-level tournaments per year. It is India's representative body in the International Carrom Federation. The AICF has 15 regional and 28 state ...

for the 2020 Online World Carrom Challenge.

Personal life

In 2012, Irudayam's wife died after she was run over by a truck near

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Legacy

Indian actor Dhanush partly played his role as a carrom player in the 2018 Tamil film

Vada Chennai ''Vada Chennai'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action crime drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran in his fourth film as a director. It is the first instalment in a planned trilogy. Produced by A. Subaskaran's Lyca Production ...

Awards

*Best Student Sportsman Award by the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalist Association. *Outstanding Sports Person of Tamil Nadu Award. *Best International Sports and of his Community. (1996) *Arjuna Award by the government of India. (1997) *Best International Player Award by the German Carrom Federation. (1998)

References

External links

A. Maria Irudayam profile at ''Sportal''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irudayam, A. Maria Tamil sportspeople Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian carrom players Living people 1956 births Date of birth missing (living people) Cue sports players from Tamil Nadu Sportspeople from Chennai Game players from Tamil Nadu