The Indian people have been playing the game of Billiards for the past several decades, since the game was incepted in India during the first half of the twentieth century. India has produced numerous world class Billiards players so far throughout all these years. The Indian Billiards players have showed great performances by winning several internationally acclaimed trophies. They have also brought a lot of glory and happiness to the nation with their extraordinary performances in the international arena. India has produced more World Champions in Billiards than most of the other countries in the world.
The reign of the Indian Billiards players started in the year 1958, when Wilson Jones became the first Indian to win the coveted World Amateur Billiards Championship, held in Calcutta (Kolkata). He was the first ever World Champion for India in any sports. Jones` achievement encouraged all the other Indian Billiards players to practice hard and touch the ultimate peak in the world of Billiards. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Indian Billiards players like Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi etc. continued the tradition of Wilson Jones and they also became the world champions in Billiards.
India`s wonderful tradition of producing world champions in Billiards continued in the recent era also, as India has got an undisputed World Champion in Billiards in the name of Pankaj Advani. Pankaj has been showing phenomenal performances in the world circuit for the past several years and he has won the World Championship in both the points` format and time format. Apart from Pankaj, Rupesh Shah is another extremely talented Indian Billiards player, who has achieved some great feats in the international circuit in the recent years.
Apart from the above mentioned Indian Billiards players, there are also several other talented players, who became successful in various international tournaments. Some of the most notable Billiards players in India include Ashok Shandilya, Aditya Mehta, Alok Kumar, Mohammad Ahsan-ul-Haque, Anuj Uppal, Arun Agrawal, B.V.S. Murthy, Devendra Joshi, Dhruv Sitwala, Mohammad Faisal Khan, Shahbaz Adil Khan, etc. Apart from these eminent men Billiards players, India has also produced some extremely talented women Billiards players. The famous Indian Women Billiards players include Aakanksha S. Thakur, Anuja Thakur, Arantxa L. Sanchis, Ashwini V. Puranik, Chitra Magimairaj, Heena Khandelwal, Indira Gowda, K. Bhanumati, Keerat Bhandaal, Neeta Kothari, Neeta Sanghvi, etc.
