Carrom in Delhi

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — All India Carrom Federation, Carrom in India, A. Maria Irudayam, K. Srinivas, Ravivarman Sharmila, 2016/2018 Carrom World Championship, DT Next — M. Khazima 2025 Carrom World Cup coverage, High Commission of India, Colombo — 2015 World Carrom Championship results. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Indian subcontinent
Category: Precision
Olympic discipline: No
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Federation and state pathway
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 6

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: All India Carrom Federation
Ministry recognition: Not currently verified
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: Not currently verified
Olympic status: Not on the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Carrom is listed on SportSupport in the precision category. Its recorded origin is Indian subcontinent. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list All India Carrom Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Carrom has a federation and state-level pathway in India, and athletes selected through All India Carrom Federation may be eligible for state sports-quota employment and state cash awards where their state notifies the discipline. TOPS does not apply, as the discipline is outside the Olympic programme.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for carrom athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Stipend, boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to carrom.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria at Asian, Commonwealth or World Championship level — Government of India. Whether a given carrom event counts depends on the scheme's notified list.
State sports quota and government employment
Many states reserve government and public-sector posts for national-level medallists. Which carrom events and which certifying bodies a state accepts varies by state, so check your state's current notification.

Explore all government schemes →

Indian Players

6 profiles

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Rules

Carrom is played on a square 29-inch playing-surface board with four corner pockets, using a striker flicked from the baseline to pocket nine white and nine black carrom men plus the red queen. Players (singles or doubles) are assigned a colour after the first pocketed piece and must pocket all of their pieces plus cover the queen — the queen must be pocketed and then followed by pocketing one of your own pieces in the same or next stroke, or it is returned to the centre. A board is won by clearing your colour first, scoring one point per opponent piece remaining plus 3 for the queen (queen points count only below 22). Matches are played to 25 points or a set number of boards. Fouls — pocketing the striker, touching a piece with any body part, or the striker leaving the board — cost a pocketed piece back to the centre and end the turn.

Authoritative rulebook: All India Carrom Federation. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across precision sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced carrom squad list.

Rifle / pistol events
10m air, 25m and 50m disciplines shot to an electronic target.
Shotgun events
Trap and skeet — moving clay targets scored on hits.
Archery — recurve & compound
Ranking round and head-to-head elimination matches.
Team events
Three-athlete team formats contested at Asian, Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in carrom at a federation-recognised event.

Standard carrom board (29-inch playing surface, wooden, with corner pockets)
Striker (approx. 15g)
18 carrom men (9 white, 9 black) and the red queen
Boric powder or approved smoothing powder
Board stand and adequate overhead lighting

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

All India Carrom Federation

All India Carrom Federation is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Carrom, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement of current recognition — recognition is granted year by year.

Origin: Indian subcontinent
Olympic: No
Paralympic: No
Category: Precision

All federations →

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in carrom.

National Carrom Championship
Organized by the All India Carrom Federation (AICF, founded 1956, recognized by the Government of India in 1970 and the IOA in 1997/98), now with over 144 editions across cadet, sub-junior, junior, senior and veteran (45+) categories, plus the All India Federation Cup. The 49th Junior National Championship was held at LNIPE, Gwalior in 2024. AICF has 47 affiliated units (30 state associations, 17 institutions).

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in carrom.

World Carrom Championship
India held the Men's Singles title continuously from the tournament's 1991 inception for many years, before it was finally broken by Sri Lanka's Nishantha Fernando. At the 2016 edition (Birmingham), India topped the medal table with 12 of 18 total medals (5 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze). India has also hosted the World Championship itself twice, in 1991 and 2000, both in Delhi.
Notable champions
A. Maria Irudayam is a two-time World Champion (1991, 1995) and nine-time National Champion — the first, and for many years the only, carrom player to receive the Arjuna Award (1997). At the 6th Carrom World Cup (2025), M. Khazima became the youngest-ever Carrom World Champion at 18, defeating 12-time national champion Rashmi Kumari.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for carrom. The national championship under All India Carrom Federation remains the top domestic competition.

All leagues →

International Players

Globally recognised carrom athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for carrom maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in carrom — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

Carrom has been included in the Government of India's sports-quota recruitment list since 1991, giving successful players a genuine pathway into government offices and public sector jobs
The Sports Authority of India's Talent Search Scholarship Scheme also supports top state and national performers
A. Maria Irudayam's own path — dropping out of school at 14 and rising through local club carrom to two world titles — reflects the sport's accessibility as a genuine social-mobility route, as does Khazima's story of training at a local coaching centre before becoming world champion

Explore sports careers →Coaches directory →

Related academies

0 listed

No carrom academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

All academies →List your academy →

Government Schemes

2 listed

Central and state schemes that fund training, stipends and awards for carrom athletes and academies.

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FAQs

Common questions about carrom in India.

Who governs Carrom in India?▾

We list All India Carrom Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for Carrom, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Carrom an Olympic sport?▾

No, Carrom is not on the Olympic programme.

How do I start playing Carrom in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under All India Carrom Federation. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Carrom athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Carrom is outside the Olympic programme. State-government cash awards or sports-quota employment can apply where a state notifies the discipline, which varies by state. Carrom does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Carrom in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Carrom in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.