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, Michael Ferreira, and Geet Sethi have come out of India. 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. In the 1870s, 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, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, 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. The game developed its own identity in 1884 when its first set of rules was finalised by Sir Neville Chamberlain, an English officer who helped develop and popularise the game at Stone House in Ooty on a table built by Burroughes & Watts that was brought over by boat. 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.
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 to 1884, wrote a letter in 1938 in which he noted, "I have never doubted that my old friend Sir Neville Chamberlain invented the game of Snooker. I was in at 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.
Total medals won by Indian's in Cue Sports in Major tournaments Competition Gold Silver Bronze Total World Snooker Championship431926Asian Games54615 Total 9 7 25 41 updated till 2023
Performance by Players in Billiards Tournaments
Tournament Name Winner World Billiards ChampionshipPankaj Advani173World Billiards ChampionshipGeet Sethi34World Billiards ChampionshipMichael Ferreira32World Billiards ChampionshipChitra Magimairaj22World Billiards ChampionshipWilson Jones21World Billiards ChampionshipRupesh Shah20World Billiards ChampionshipAshok Shandilya14World Billiards ChampionshipR Umadevi Nagaraj13World Billiards ChampionshipManoj Kothari10World Billiards ChampionshipAnuja Thakur10World Billiards ChampionshipSourav Kothari04World Billiards ChampionshipDevendra Joshi02World Billiards ChampionshipAlok Kumar01World Billiards ChampionshipBhaskar Balachandra01World Billiards ChampionshipDhruv Sitwala01World Billiards ChampionshipSatish Mohan01World Billiards ChampionshipSnenthra Babu01World Billiards ChampionshipSubhash Agarwal01WPBSA World ChampionshipsGeet Sethi52WPBSA World ChampionshipsPankaj Advani10WPBSA World ChampionshipsDevendra Joshi01WPBSA World ChampionshipsDhruv Sitwala01WBL World ChampionshipsSourav Kothari12WBL World ChampionshipsDhruv Sitwala01 updated till 2023
Performance by Players in Snooker Tournaments
Tournament Name Winner World Snooker ChampionshipPankaj Advani31World Snooker ChampionshipOmprakesh Agrawal10World Snooker ChampionshipAmee Kamani01World Snooker ChampionshipVidya Pillai01 updated till 2023
List of National Sports award recipients in Billiards & Snooker, showing the year, award, and gender Year Recipient Award Gender1992–1993 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Male2005 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Male1962 Arjuna Award Male1970 Arjuna Award Male1972 Arjuna Award Male1973 Arjuna Award Male1978–1979 Arjuna Award Male1983 Arjuna Award Male1984 Arjuna Award Male1985 Arjuna Award Male1989 Arjuna Award Male1997 Arjuna Award Male2001 Arjuna Award Male2002 Arjuna Award Male2003 Arjuna Award Male2005 Arjuna Award Female2012 Arjuna Award Male2013 Arjuna Award Male2016 Arjuna Award Male2005 Dhyan Chand Award Male1996 Dronacharya Award Male2001 Dronacharya Award Male2004 Dronacharya Award Male2010 Dronacharya Award Male
References