Billiards in India has always been considered as one of the strongest powerhouses in the world of Billiards. The main reason behind this is the utter dominance of the Indian Billiards players over all the other players for the past several years.
History of Billiards
The history of Billiards is quite old and rich. The game was invented during the 14th century and a game called as `Ground Billiards` is thought to be the ancestor of Billiards in the world. However, Billiards in India is not that much old, as the game was incepted in India during the first half of the twentieth century.
Billiard in India
Billiard was brought to India by the British rulers of that time and it soon got popularity amongst the Indian people. With the increasing popularity of the game in India, an urge for a better management of Billiards in India started to be felt. The visionaries like M. M. Begg took a lot of initiatives to establish an all India governing body for the sport in India. With efforts from Mr. Begg and his companions, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) was established in the year 1926, in Calcutta (Kolkata) in theIndian state of West Bengal. Since then, the BSFI has been promoting the game in India and also governing all kinds of Billiards related activities in the country.
Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI)
After the formation of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), several state level Billiards associations started to be established all over India. All the state associations started to assist the BSFI in the promotion and development of the game in India. They started to conduct training programmes and to organise various kinds of tournaments to bring up new talents from all over the country. The Billiards tournaments in India are mainly organised for providing the Billiards players with a chance to improve their skills and also to get noticed at the national level.
Associations for Billiards
The BSFI and the state level Billiards associations are also working in educating the Indian Billiards players about the nitty-gritty of the game. The main objective behind their organising training programmes was to teach the players about the general rules of Billiards and also about the terms of Billiards. It is mainly for their relentless efforts that India has so far produced so many world class players in Billiards. Almost all the eminent Indian Billiards players were honoured by the Government of India by receiving theArjuna Awardfrom time to time. The huge number of Arjuna Awardees in Billiards is another evidence of how many extremely talented and great Billiards players India has produced so far.
Billiard Players of India
The players like Wilson Jones, Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi, Pankaj Advani, etc have won the World Championships in several occasions. The latest sensation of Indian Billiards, Pankaj Advani has become the first player to win the World Championship in both the point`s format and time format.
Training Schools for Billiard
There are many training camps in India for identifying talent in billiards and providing them regional and state sponsorship that have been organized by the Billiards and Snooker Federation in various parts of the country. Delhi Billiards and Snooker Association, Star Snooker Academy, Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra, Greenock Billiards Club, Delhi, 63 Billiards Boulevard, Delhi and many more are offering training facilities to the players of India.