Cue sports in India

2021-08-04T20:40:13Z

2409:4060:419:B191:7511:560C:7BF9:F7C: /* Performance by Players in Billiards Tournaments */

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
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| union = [[Billiards and Snooker Federation of India]]
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| first = December 1881<ref name = "BSFI history"/>
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Cue sports have a long history in India. The game of [[snooker]] originated among British Army officers stationed in India in the latter half of the 19th century.

Billiard champions like [[Wilson Jones (billiards player)|Wilson Jones]], [[Michael Ferreira]], and [[Geet Sethi]] have come out of India. [[Pankaj Arjan Advani|Pankaj Advani]] is another successful Indian player. Training camps for identifying talent and providing them regional and state sponsorship have been organised by the Billiards and Snooker Federation in various parts of the country.

==History==
The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the 19th century.<ref name="origins">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-vernacular-11-snooker-1089731.html|first=Chris|last=Maume|title=Sporting Vernacular 11. Snooker|work=The Independent|date=25 April 1999|accessdate=25 February 2007|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211083228/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-vernacular-11-snooker-1089731.html|archivedate=11 February 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In the 1870s, [[English billiards|billiards]] was a popular activity amongst [[British Army]] officers stationed in [[India]] and several variations of the game were devised during this time. One such variation originated at the officers' [[mess]] of the 11th [[Devonshire Regiment]] in 1875,<ref name=heritage2008>{{cite web|url=http://www.snookerheritage.co.uk/normans-articles/days-of-old/origins-of-snooker/|title=Origins of Snooker|first=Peter|last=Clare|date=2008|publisher=Snooker Heritage|accessdate=8 February 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103150005/http://snookerheritage.co.uk/normans-articles/days-of-old/origins-of-snooker/|archivedate=3 January 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> which combined the rules of two [[pocket billiards]] games, [[pyramid pool|pyramid]] and [[black pool]]. The former was played with fifteen red balls positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured balls.<ref name="Shamos 1994">{{cite book |last1=Shamos |first1=Mike |title=Pool |url=https://archive.org/details/poolhistorystrat0000sham |url-access=registration |date=1994 |publisher=Friedman Fairfax |location=New York City |ref=Shamos 1994}}</ref>{{rp|50}} The game developed its own identity in 1884 when its first set of rules was finalised by [[Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain|Sir Neville Chamberlain]], an English officer who helped develop and popularise the game at [[Stone House, Ooty|Stone House]] in [[Ooty]] on a table built by [[Burroughes & Watts]] that was brought over by boat.<ref name=telegraph2014>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/Ooty-India-back-in-time-to-the-birthplace-of-snooker/|title=Ooty, India: back in time to the birthplace of snooker|date=16 June 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|first=Martin|last=Hughes-Games|accessdate=8 February 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321074803/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/Ooty-India-back-in-time-to-the-birthplace-of-snooker/|archivedate=21 March 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The word "snooker" was a slang term for first-year cadets and inexperienced military personnel, but Chamberlain would often use it to describe the inept performance of one of his fellow officers at the table. The name instantly stuck with the players.<ref name="origins"/>

The earliest contemporary reference to cue sports in India appears in a letter written by Captain Sheldrick from [[Calcutta]] on 2 February 1886. The letter gives a detailed account of a game called "Snookers". The letter also contains references to the game being played among members of the [[British Indian Army]] in 1884. British officer Ian Hamilton, who was stationed in [[Ooty]] from 1882–84, wrote a letter in 1938 in which he noted, "I have never doubted that my old friend Sir [[Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain|Neville Chamberlain]] invented the game of Snooker. I was in at [[Ooty|Ootacamund]] in 1882-84 and there still must be some crowd left who can testify to the belief their current that Snooker owed its birth to Neville Chamberlain fertile brain. Could the game have existed in Ooty even before Chamberlain arrival just waiting for him to discover it and give it a new name. This is a certainly a possibility." The [[Billiards and Snooker Federation of India]] (BFSI) states that Ooty is "the most credible birthplace for the game of Snooker", however, the federation rejects the theory that the game was already established in Ooty. The BSFI also states that, based on available evidence, the first snooker game in India occurred at Ooty "almost precisely" in December 1881.<ref name = "BSFI history">{{cite web |title=BIRTH PLACE OF SNOOKER |url=http://bsfi.net/birth-place-of-snooker/ |website=Billiards and Snooker Federation of India |accessdate=19 July 2018}}</ref>

==Total medals won by Indian's in Cue Sports in Major tournaments==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Competition
! Gold
! Silver
! Bronze
! Total
|-
|[[Cue sports at the Asian Games|Asian Games]]
|5
|4
|6
|15
|-
| Total || '''5''' || '''4''' || '''6''' || '''15'''
|-
|}

==Performance by Players in Billiards Tournaments==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align: center;"
|-
! Tournament
! Name
! Winner
! {{nobreak|Runner-up}}
|-

|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Pankaj Advani (billiards player)|Pankaj Advani]]'''
|14
|3
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Geet Sethi]]'''
|3
|4
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Michael Ferreira]]'''
|3
|2
|-
|[[World Women's Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Chitra Magimairaj]]'''
|2
|2
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Wilson Jones (billiards player)|Wilson Jones]]'''
|2
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Ashok Shandilya]]'''
|1
|4
|-
|[[World Women's Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[R Umadevi Nagaraj]]'''
|1
|3
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Manoj Kothari]]'''
|1
|0
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Rupesh Shah]]'''
|1
|0
|-
|[[World Women's Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Anuja Chandra-Thakur|Anuja Thakur]]'''
|1
|0
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Devendra Joshi]]'''
|0
|2
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Satish Mohan]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Dhruv Sitwala]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Alok Kumar]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Sourav Kothari]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Billiards Championship|World Billiards Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Bhaskar Balachandra]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|}

==Performance by Players in Snooker Tournaments==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align: center;"
|-
! Tournament
! Name
! Winner
! {{nobreak|Runner-up}}
|-

|[[IBSF World Snooker Championship|World Snooker Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Pankaj Advani (billiards player)|Pankaj Advani]]'''
|3
|1
|-
|[[IBSF World Snooker Championship|World Snooker Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Omprakesh Agrawal]]'''
|1
|0
|-
|[[IBSF World Snooker Championship|World Snooker Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Amee Kamani]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|[[World Women's Snooker Championship|World Snooker Championship]]
|align="left"|'''[[Vidya Pillai]]'''
|0
|1
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sport in India}}

[[Category:Cue sports in India| ]]
[[Category:Sport in India by sport]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Cue sports in India