The success of Indian snooker players has seen the rapid growth of cue sports across India saw a gradual birth of talented snooker players.
The success of Indian snooker players has seen the rapid growth of cue sports across India. A few decades after the British introduced the sport in India saw a gradual birth of talented snooker players emerge in the country. Most of the players have gone to play the game on a professional level, with some also excelling in billiards. Snooker players from India have made a mark on the international circuit, winning big competitions and receiving several accolades.
In the game of snooker, Sethi was known to have the eyes of a hunter. Despite dominating the game of billiards, he was also a notable snooker player from India. However, he primarily played snooker on the amateur circuit. Geet became the national snooker champion four years consecutively in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. Despite not making it big in the world snooker rankings, he is the only player in cue sports history to have made a 147 maximum break.
Familiar as the Prince of Snooker, Yasin Merchant was born in Mumbai on December 19, 1966. In 1986, Merchant became the junior national champion. He was also the first Indian to win the Asian Snooker Championship which took place in Delhi. Yasin was also triumphant at the 1989 Masters Championship. He made it to the last 32 in two ranking tournaments. These include the 1995 German Open and 1996 UK Championships. Later on, in 1991 he went on to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Pankaj Advani is a legendary snooker and billiards player who was born in Pune. He became the youngest player (18 years) from India to win the 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championship in China. Pankaj also won the IBSF 6-Red Amateur World Snooker title. At the Welsh Open 2013, he was the first player from India to reach the last eight. Pankaj defeated Graeme Dott of Scotland in a 4-1 triumph. After the first and second years on the main snooker tour, Advani was number 74 and 56 respectively in the world rankings. To make it into the top 64 was a great achievement. He is known by many popular names like The Prince of India, The Golden Boy and The Prince of Pune. Advani made his highest break of 136 in the China Open qualifiers of 2016. In May 2016, he made history by becoming the Asian 6-Red champion.
Aditya Mehta familiar by the name of The Sun of Indian Snooker started playing professional snooker on the Challenge Tour. He became the second Indian player to get onto the main tour after Yasin Merchant. At the 2010 Asian Games in China, Aditya claimed silver and bronze medals in the team and singles competition respectively. In 2012, he clinched the Asian Snooker Championship in Qatar. The next year was very successful for Mehta as he became the first Indian to bag a gold medal at Colombian World Games. At the 2013 Indian Open, Mehta also became the first player from India to reach the final. He received a cheque of £25,000 as the runner-up. This great run in 2013 allowed him to took him to world number 49. From then on, Mehta did suffer a dip in form, along with a neck injury to take him out of main tournaments.
Lucky Vatnani is a snooker player from Hyderabad. After graduating in Sports Business Administration from Sheffield Hallam University, he did show a lot of early promise as an amateur player. In 2009, he won a gold medal at the British University Snooker Championships. He earned a place on the World Snooker Tour for the 2011/2012 season. His highest ranking was 85. Lucky’s stay on the main tour was very short as he could not finish inside the top 64. He was unsuccessful to regain his place on the main tour via Q School in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Lucky’s highest break of 135 came during the 2014 Q-School – Event 2. His 2018 Q School attempt also came to a premature end.
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