Gujarat has given India cue sports two world-class players in Satish
Mohan and Geet Sethi. Now a third has joined the ranks, 34-year-old
Rupesh Shah who won the points format (150-up) IBSF World Billiards
title at Singapore on Saturday. He came from a strong field which
had three world champs in Geet Sethi, Peter Gilchrist and Pankaj
Advani. They will be seen again in the time-format event which
commences on Monday and concludes on September 14. Advani is the
title holder in both formats.
Lauding Rupesh was his state mate Sethi. Said the eight-time world
champ in a message "Rupesh has matured with
time into a dangerous opponent. He first won the national billiards
title in 1993 and then for 14 years struggled to repeat that
performance. But I guess after a 14-year hibernation, he has emerged
strong, honed his skills and developed praiseworthy fighting
qualities."
Sethi added: "Rupesh was the worthy winner of
this title. He also is exhibiting exceptional versatility in both
billiards and snooker as he won the snooker team bronze in Doha
Asian Games. Given his solid cue action and superb self-belief, I
think he is here to stay at the world level."