|
|
In a remarkable career spanning 30 years and counting, billiards maestro Geet Sethi has become synonymous with the three-ball game in India. Born in Delhi on April 17, 1961, Sethi's precocious talent blossomed when he shifted to Ahmedabad at a young age.
Geet Sethi startled billiards aficionados when he defeated the mercurial Michael Ferreira to win the National senior title in 1982. Carrying on the good work, he won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in 1985 by defeating Bob Marshal in a marathon 8-hour long final. He went on to win an amazing eight world titles - five World Professional and three IBSF World Billiards Championships.
Besides winning crowns aplenty, Geet Sethi has achieved many a record-breaking feats. He featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first amateur in the world to compile the maximum 147 break in Snooker. Moreover, Geet Sethi constructed a break of 1276 in the 1992 World Professional Billiards Championship, which is the World Record under the three pot rule and was the highest break made in the last five decades.
Geet Sethi was Michael Ferreira's heir-apparent and his classic encounters with archrival Mike Russell were the stuff legends are made of. In a tribute to his achievements, the nation has conferred on him some of its most prestigious awards -- Padma Shri (1986), Arjuna Award (1986) and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1992-93).
In spite of his legendary stature in the game, the unassuming Sethi strives hard to reach new pinnacles in the game and has become a role model for the youth of this country.
