Name of the sportsperson: Geet Siriram Sethi
Date Of Birth: April 17, 1961
State: New Delhi
Discipline: Billiards
Major Achievements:
• World Professional Billiards Champion: 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2006
• World Amateur Billiards Champion: 1985, 1987, 2001
• Gold Medallist, 13th Asian Games, Bangkok 1998
• Asian Billiards Champion: 1987
• National Billiards Champion: 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1997, 1998
• National Snooker Champion: 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988
Awards:
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for 1992–1993
• Padma Shri
• Arjuna Award in 1986
• K.K. Birla Award, 1993.
Profile:
Geet Siriram Sethi is a semi-professional player of English billiards. He is a six-time winner of the professional-level and a three-time winner of the amateur World Championships and holder of two world records in English billiards. He along with Prakash Padukone have co-founded Olympic Gold Quest which is a Foundation for the Promotion of Sports in India.
Born in Delhi and raised in Ahmedabad, Sethi won his first major English billiards event in 1982. He later went on to win the NBC for four years in a row, 1985–1988, and made a successful comeback later in both 1997 and 1988.
He came into highlight after winning the IBSF World Amateur Billiards Championships in 1985 against Bob Marshall in an eight-hour-long final round.
In the 1992 World Professional Billiards Championship, Sethi constructed a world-record English billiards break of 1276 under the three-pot rule, also the highest break in five decades and won first place. He went on to win the title again in 1993, 1995, 1998, and 2006.
In the 2006 event, in Prestatyn, Wales, he defeated David Causier in the quarter final, and defending World Pro Champion Chris Shutt in the semi-final. He won the title round 2073–1057 (average per inning 34.3 vs. 17.0) in a timed five-hour final against Lee Lagan (who had previously beaten him 6 frames to 5 at the untimed 2003 IBSF Amateur World Championship). After running two centuries in the first hour, Sethi led by 150, increased this to 427 with two more centuries by the end of the first of the two sessions, and followed it up with a double century of 238 points; meanwhile Langan only managed two centuries in the first session and one in the second.. When the match time ran out, Sethi had just reached a double century again, at 206, and had been poised to continue the break.
He has been described as an "arch-rival" of Mike Russell of England, also an eight-time English billiards World Champion, and each of them had defeated the other for the title, with Russell victorious in 1996, and Sethi the winner in 1998, as of their next encounter at the 2007 event. They both scored two triple centuries apiece in the semi-finals, but Russell kocked Sethi out of the running, 1835–1231 (65.5 vs. 45.6 average); Russell eventually won the title for his ninth World crown.
Sethi won gold and silver medals in doubles and singles English billiards respectively at the 13th Asian Games (1998, Bangkok, Thailand). He also won silver and bronze medals in doubles and singles English billiards respectively at he 14th Asian Games (2002, Busan, South Korea). At the 15th Asian Games (2006, Doha, Quatar), he took bronze medal in English billiards (men's doubles with Ashok Harishankar Shandilya).
He is now promoting a venture called Olympic Gold Quest, committed to supporting Indian sportspersons with Olympic medal-winning potential.
