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In the hullabaloo of India’s anticipated whitewash of Zimbabwe in cricket, we missed out on an extremely significant achievement in a very rare sport, snooker. Cueist Aditya Mehta made India proud by bagging gold in snooker at World Games held in Cali, Columbia recently.
In spite of being the top dog in India, major tournament success always proved to be elusive for this 27-year-old seasoned journeyman. Finally, the golden moment for this snooker champion arrived after having put in consistent performance for the past 10 years.
He is stated to have ‘surprised’ himself as he made the transition from bronze to gold in the World Games. Mehta became the first Indian to win the World Games title 3-0 after he comfortably defeated his opponent, a higher-ranked and pre-tournament favourite, Liang Wenbo from China, in the summit clash of the quadrennial event.
Communicating to a news agency (PTI) through email, Aditya Mehta is said to have mentioned that he has always seen his career improve slowly and steadily. He felt it was his self-belief that helped him graduate from bronze to silver till finally he struck gold.
In his own words, he is extremely happy and is living the best moment of his life after having put India on the international snooker radar with his mean feat. What makes Aditya’s achievement even more commendable is the fact that the format was tricky, being a best of five and knock-out tournament. Additionally, the table conditions were different from the usual ones Aditya and his contemporaries are used to.
According to some veterans and experts, Aditya is the best snooker player India has had since Yasin Merchant. Moreover, this gold medal effort by Mehta ends the 32-year medal drought for India in the World Games.
