India has bright future in cue sports: Geet Sethi

Kolkata, May 5 (IANS) Nine time World Billiards Champion Geet Sethi feels India has a bright future in cue sports and welcomes the changes which billiards has seen over the years, making it better and more entertaining.

"The state of cue sports is very good in our country. Only five days back Aditya Mehta won the Asian snooker championship in Doha where Pankaj Advani finished the runner up," said 51-year-old Sethi, who dominated billiards through much of the 1990s.

The Ahemdabad-based Sethi has under his belt nine professional and three amateur world championships.

"This generation is very good with upcoming players like Shahbaz Khan."

There was no dearth of talent in cue sports. There was a seamless transformation from one generation to other, said Sethi, winner of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri awards.

Asked about the possibilities of inclusion of cue sports in Olympics, he said: "There is a new body that has been formed, World Federation of Cue Sports. It is for all cue ball federations to make a combined effort.

"We are there, but we are not there. We have formed a combined body. In Asian Games - billiards, snooker, carom billiards, 8 ball and 9 ball pool games - combined cue sports is included."

However, cue sports have been dropped from the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, which has saddened Sethi.

On the changes in the game of billiards, especially the shift from the time format to the points format, he said: "All the players are for it."

Famed player Mike Russel, a master of the time format, is also for it. "It is good both from the spectators' and participants' perspective.

"The game is evolving, becoming better and of higher standard after the changes," he said.