A world class feat by Rupesh Shah

However, the 34-year-old says his job is only half finished. Not content with what he has achieved, Shah is now training his cue on the ‘time-format’ title in order to make a grand double.

“It was definitely the biggest achievement of my career. But I want to win the titles in the other format as well,” he told The Indian Express, speaking from Singapore after his two league games, one of which he won by a whopping 900-plus points in time format.

“I was completely lost before I had to play against twice world champion Thai Praput Chaithansukul. But I always lead him.” Crediting his wins to the efforts of national coaches Subhash Agrawal and Manoj Kothari, Shah said they were always helpful with the mental aspect of his game.

“That’s what stood me in good stead,” he added. But what surprises one is the winning chemistry of the Indians on the world stage. Rupesh is the seventh from the country to have won a world title in cue sports. India have six other winners — Wilson Jones, Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi, Omprakash Bankeylal Agarwal, Manoj Kothari, and Pankaj Advani — who have won the crown.

Of the above seven, only Pankaj Advani has the distinction of winning world titles in both snooker and billiards, in 2005.

Though Rupesh has not exactly done that, there is some similarity in the two feats. The Ahmedabad player won the individual bronze in snooker at the Asian Games in Doha last year. And now, he has added a new feather in his cap on his maiden world stage appearance.

The similarity between him and Pankaj should end there.

But where one similarity ends, another begins. Shah, like Geet Sethi, comes from the same state — Gujarat. And it is no coincidence that Shah considers Sethi as his mentor and looks up to the senior for advice all the time. “Both of us are from the same club and he is always there to help me out,” says Shah.

A strict vegetarian, Shah has missed many a tour abroad because of this habit. A team man that Shah is, he could have played in the team event at Doha despite carrying an elbow injury. But, keeping team’s interest in mind, he opted out for Yasin Merchant and Aditya Mehta to compete. India won the team bronze.

Shah, incidentally, was the first youngster to win the junior national billiards title in 1993, when he was just 19. Within a year of making his debut, he became India’s No 1 ranked player in both snooker and billiards. He hasn’t looked back.

Shah, despite a world title to his credit, is not be part of the squad that will participate in the Asian Indoor Games at Macau next month. But it proves at least one thing — the abundance of talent in India.