|
|
Ashok Shandilya was born in Mumbai on November 30, 1968. In 1990, in his very first year as a senior, Shandilya won the billiards title at the Nationals at Bangalore and but finished runners-up in snooker.
Shandilya has been a consistent performer at the national level and his tally of five Gold, as many Silver and four Bronze medals speaks volumes about the prowess of the man. As an employee of the Central Railway, his performance at the Inter-Railway level is even more impressive with a total of 11 Gold, seven Silver and two Bronze medals.
Shandilya has had many successes at the International level but his most outstanding achievement till date is the double Gold in billiards at the Asian Games held in Bangkok in December 1998. Sandilya outplayed billiards maestro Geet Sethi in the singles final and later paired with Sethi to win the doubles title as well.
Shandilya has been a vocal critic of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India for the Federation's lackadaisical attitude towards promoting the game in the country. Ashok Shandilya bemoans the fact that despite producing so many world champions there are still no sponsors to promote the players.
