What is the difference between billiards and snooker? Billiards Billiards is played with three balls: white, red and yellow. The white and yellow balls are the cue balls of the two opponents respectively and the objective is to score some set points. The player who scores the required points first, wins. Snooker Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a large green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular (full-size) table is 12 Ä 6 ft (3.7 Ä 1.8 m). It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won. Snooker, generally regarded as having been invented in India by British Army officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries. Famous Indian Billiards Players Pankaj Advani Geet Sethi Ashok Shandilya Michael Ferreira Wilson Jones 1
PROFILE: PANKAJ ADVANI Pankaj Arjan Advani is a World Champion in billiards and English billiards from India. Pankaj has been awarded by Padma Shri award in 2009, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2006, Arjuna Award in 2004 one of the renown civic and sports awards in India. This 25 years old has achieved more than anyone else in this age in his sport. He is the only Indian to have won both the billiards and snooker world titles. Achievements He won his first world championship title in 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championship in China. After winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship in 2005 at Qawra, Malta, when he defeated fellow countryman Devendra Joshi, he became only the second cueist after Malta's Paul Mifsud to have won both the billiards and snooker world titles. Advani, who is the only player to have achieved a "grand double" of winning both the points and timed formats at the IBSF World Billiards 2
Championships 2005, has repeated the same feat at the 2008 Championships held in Bangalore as well. 2010 o Asian Games Gold Medallist - English BilliardS SINGLES o Asian Billiards Championship 3
PROFILE: GEET SETHI Geet Siriram Sethi, generally known as Geet Sethi is an Indian Billiards Player, and arguably the All Time Best talent in the sport that India has ever seen. Having won 9 World Billiards titles to his credit, Geet dominated the game in the decade of 1990, making a great impact on the National as well as World Circuits in Billiards. Winner of eight world titles including five World Professional and three IBSF World Billiards Championships Featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first amateur in the world to compile the maximum 147 break in Snooker Made a break of 1276 in the 1992 World Professional Billiards Championship, a World Record Padma Shri (1986) Arjuna Award (1986) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1992-93) 4
PROFILE: ASHOK SHANDILYA Won two golds in billiards at the Asian Games held in Bangkok in December 1998. Ashok Shandilya is an Indian Billiards Player, and has brought various laurels to the nation, including two Gold Medals at the Asian Games. Awards & Honors To commemorate his excellent performance in the sports of Snooker and Billiards, and his remarkable achievements at the International level, the Government of India honored Ashok Shandilya with the coveted Arjuna Award in the year 1997. 5
PROFILE: MICHAEL FERREIRA Michael Ferreira is an Indian Billiards Player, and famous for having won the World Billiards Championship four times. Apart from being a great player, Michael has been well known for a true rebellion who has always pleaded equal facilities and encouragement to other sports and games as well apart from Cricket. Won the World Billiards Championship four times In December, 1978, created history by becoming the first amateur to make a 1000 point break in billiards 6
PROFILE: WILSON JONES Wilson Lionel Garton Jones, generally known as Wilson Jones was an Indian Billiards Player, and was the first World Champion in any sport that India had produced. Not only excellent Player, he also served as a commendable Billiards player and polished a number of Indian Billiards Players into extra-ordinary performers at International level. Won the National Billiards Championship 12 times Won the World Billiards Championship twice (1958 and 1964) Arjuna Award in 1962 Padma Shri in 1965 Dronacharya Award in 1996 7