Golden Jubilee of India's First World Title

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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