Golden Jubilee
of India's First World Title
Function Photographs
Audio of Press Conference
(Supported Media Player - Quick Time
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Wilson
Jones, the very name evokes phenomenal feelings. Doyen of Indian
sports, a fierce competitor, a model sportsman and more
importantly a perfect Gentleman.
Wilson brought sporting laurels to
India at a time when we were still in a state of a hangover of a
slavish mentality. Not only were we enslaved with the complex of the
legacy of the British but also did not have the wherewithal to match
their domination in a sport like billiards and snooker for the
“green baize” was a monopolistic territory of the White man.
If late Dhyan Chand, the legendary
hockey player and others of his ilk were the pioneers in threatening
the superiority of the Englishman, it was actually Wilson who broke
the stranglehold of our past masters, not only did he win the World
billiards crown in the company of legendary billiards players like
Bob Marshall, Tom Cleary, Kingsley Kennerly and Leslie Driffield in
1958 by beating his own countryman, Chandra Hirjee another legendary
cueist, but also did one better when he did it again in 1964 in the
company of the likes of Jack Karnehm, another legendary figure of
the three ball game.
The very fact that he was the first
Indian to win a world championship in any sport, he became a beacon
of inspiration for other sportsmen of the country to achieve world
titles and greatness which have brought cue sports to the fore of
sporting activity in India. Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi, Late Om
Agarwal, all owe a lot to Wilson for their success. Very few know
that he was the one to polish the game. Legendary cueist - Satish
Mohan who was unassailable during his reign as the billiards king
from 1968 to 1973.
It was indeed a proud moment for our
country when he won the World billiards title but by far a prouder
moment when he alighted to a warm welcome from the plane which
carried him home from a foreign land with the Arthur Walker Trophy –
a symbol of supremacy in the field of billiards. That he was awarded
the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri by the Government of India for
his exploits and later the Dronacharya Award was only a natural
culmination of his victories.
Even so, to my mind what actually stood
out more than his winnings in competition was his rare humanness and
the spirit of sharing his knowledge with anyone and everyone. What
marks him out as one of the truly great sons of the soil was his
great affection and love for the youngsters in the game and was
always willing to encourage the promising cueist.
Wilson became a champion cueist when
the field of competitors was so strong that at least five different
cueists were all capable of beating one another. He still kept
himself tall among such fierce competitors speaks volumes about his
intricate knowledge of the game, flawless temperament. He was an
embodiment of equanimity.
Michael Ferreira, his understudy in the
early sixties, the Agarwal brothers – Late Om and Subash in the
early eighties, Ashok Shandilya and Devendra Joshi in the nineties,
all our top cueists, learned the basic and finer aspects of the
game from this "Great Guru" . Even Yasin Merchant and Geet Sethi
have acknowledged his contribution in inspiring their feats. Still
what ranks as the greatest attribute to Wilson was his humility and
grace.
Cue
Sports India
Wednesday
10
December 2008
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