View source for Geet Sethi

{{short description|Indian billiards player}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox snooker player
| name          = Geet Sethi
| image         = 
| caption       = 
| birth_date    = {{birth-date and age|17 April 1961}}
| birth_place   = [[Delhi]], India
| Sport country = India
| medals-expand = yes
| medals        =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[English billiards]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{IND}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Asian Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1998 Asian Games|1998 Bangkok]] | [[Cue sports at the 1998 Asian Games|Teams]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1998 Asian Games|1998 Bangkok]] | [[Cue sports at the 1998 Asian Games|Singles]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2002 Asian Games|2002 Busan]] | [[Cue sports at the 2002 Asian Games|Teams]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2002 Asian Games|2002 Busan]] | [[Cue sports at the 2002 Asian Games|Singles]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2006 Asian Games|2006 Doha]] | [[Cue sports at the 2006 Asian Games|Teams]] }}
}}
{{Infobox player of English billiards
| name             = 
| World Billiards World Championships = 5
| IBSF World Championships = 3
| website          = 
}}
'''Geet Siriram Sethi''' (born 17 April 1961)<ref name="ILI1">{{Cite web |title=Geet Sethi Profile |url=http://www.iloveindia.com/sports/billiards/players/geetsethi.html |pages="Sport in India" section |work=ILoveIndia.com |access-date=30 November 2007 |archive-date=2 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702062412/http://www.iloveindia.com/sports/billiards/players/geetsethi.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of [[India]] is a professional player of [[English billiards]] who dominated the sport throughout much of the 1990s. He is also a notable amateur (ex-pro) [[snooker]] player. He is a five-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.<ref name="ILI1" /><ref name="TNQ2">{{Cite web |title=Geet Sethi crowned World Billiards Champion for the 8th Time! |url=http://www.tnq.in/GS_newstory.html |work=TNQ.in |publisher=TNQ Sponsorship (India) Pvt. Ltd. |year=2006 |access-date=30 November 2007 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181606/http://www.tnq.in/GS_newstory.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Along with [[Prakash Padukone]], Sethi has co-founded [[Olympic Gold Quest]], a foundation for the promotion of sports in India.

== Career ==
[[File:President_Giani_Zail_Singh_presenting_World_Billiards_Championship_Cup_to_Geet_Sethi_at_Taj_Palace_Hotel.jpg|thumb|President [[Giani Zail Singh]] presenting World Billiards Championship Cup to Geet Sethi at Taj Palace Hotel]]
Born in [[Delhi]] and grew up in [[Ahmedabad]],<ref name="ILI1" /> Sethi won his first major English billiards event in 1982,<ref name="ILI1" /> the Indian National Billiards Championship (an international event despite its name), defeating [[Michael Ferreira]],<ref name="ILI1" /> and went on to win the NBC again four years in a row, 1985–1988, and made a comeback in both 1997 and 1998 to reclaim the title.<ref name="TNQ1">{{Cite web |title=Geet Sethi Page |url=http://www.tnq.in/geetsethi.html |work=TNQ.in |publisher=TNQ Sponsorship (India) Pvt. Ltd. |year=1998 |access-date=30 November 2007 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181627/http://www.tnq.in/geetsethi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He rose to international prominence by winning the [[IBSF World Amateur Billiards Championship]]s in 1985, versus [[Bob Marshall (billiards player)|Bob Marshall]] in an eight-hour-long final round.<ref name="ILI1" /> In 1987, he again won the IBSF event, as well as the [[ACBS Asian Billiards Championship]].<ref name="TNQ1" /> He won another World Amateur Billiards title 2001, despite having previously played as a pro by that date.<ref name="TNQ2" />

Sethi also took the Indian National Snooker Championships four times back to back, in the same 1985–1988 span as his national English billiards streak.<ref name="TNQ1" /> In the 1989 event, held at [[Guntur]], Andhra Pradesh, though he did not take the title, he did achieve the world's first amateur [[maximum break]] of 147 in official competition.<ref name="ILI1" /><ref name="TNQ1" /> He has never placed in the top [[snooker world rankings]], however. Sethi is the only person in the history of cue-sports to have scored a maximum (147) in competitive snooker and a 1000+ break in competitive billiards.

In the 1992 [[World Professional Billiards Championship]], Sethi constructed a world-record English billiards {{Cuegloss|Break|break}} of 1276 in 80 minutes under the three-pot rule, also the highest break in five decades,<ref name="ILI1" /><ref name="TNQ1" /> and won first place. He went on to win the title again in 1993, 1995,<ref name="TNQ1" /> 1998,<ref name="TNQ2" /><ref name="TNQ1" /> and 2006.<ref name="TNQ2" />

In the 2006 event, in [[Prestatyn, Wales|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 {{Cuegloss|Inning|inning}} 34.3 vs. 17.0) in a timed five-hour final against [[Lee Lagan]] (who had previously beaten him 6 {{Cuegloss|Frame|frames}} to 5 at the untimed 2003 IBSF Amateur World Championship). After running two {{Cuegloss|Century|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 {{Cuegloss|Session|sessions}}, and followed it up with a {{Cuegloss|Double century|double century}} of 238 {{Cuegloss|Point|points}}; meanwhile Langan only managed two centuries in the first session and one in the second..  When the {{Cuegloss|Match|match}} time ran out, Sethi had just reached a double century again, at 206, and had been poised to continue the break.<ref name="TNQ2" /><!--EVERY detail in this paragraph is sourced by this reference; if you add something, be sure to copy this ref tag to before your addition, then source your addition, and leave this ref tag at the end, unless you add your material to the end.-->

He has been described as an "arch-rival"<ref name="ILI1" /> of [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|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 knocked Sethi out of the running, 1835–1231 (65.5 vs. 45.6 average); Russell eventually won the title, for his ninth World crown.<ref name="EABA1">{{Cite web |title=2007 World Professional Billiards Championship |pages="Tournaments" section |work=EABAonline |url=http://www.eaba.co.uk/tournaments/2006-07/worldProfessional2007.html |publisher=English Amateur Billiards Association |year=2007 |access-date=1 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928024131/http://www.eaba.co.uk/tournaments/2006-07/worldProfessional2007.html |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Sethi won gold and silver medals in doubles and singles English billiards respectively at the [[1998 Asian Games|13th Asian Games]] (1998, [[Bangkok, Thailand]]).<ref name="IBSF profile">{{cite web|url=http://www.ibsf.info/cgi-bin/ibsf.pl?A=PlayerProfile&Player=Geet%20Sethi |title=Player Profile |publisher=[[International Billiards and Snooker Federation|IBSF]] |access-date=15 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130095225/http://ibsf.info/cgi-bin/ibsf.pl?A=PlayerProfile&Player=Geet%20Sethi |archive-date=30 November 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref> He also won silver and bronze medals in doubles and singles English billiards respectively at the [[2002 Asian Games|14th Asian Games]] (2002, [[Busan, South Korea]]).<ref name="IBSF profile" /> At the [[Cue sports at the 2006 Asian Games|15th Asian Games]] (2006, [[Doha, Qatar]]), he took bronze medal in English billiards (men's doubles with [[Ashok Harishankar Shandilya]]).<ref name="IBSF profile" />

He has announced plans to compete in the [[Olympic Games]] for India when [[cue sports]] are finally admitted as [[Olympic sports]]<ref name="TNQ1" /> (long in-progress between the [[World Confederation of Billiard Sports]] and the [[International Olympic Committee]]).

Sethi's professional management agent, TNQ Sponsorship,<ref name="TNQ1" /> commented that he "has been focussing<sup>&#91;''sic''&#93;</sup> on the sport with renewed enthusiasm" and "seems to be peaking at the right time".<ref name="TNQ2" />

== World Professional Billiards Championship results ==
<!--CONVERT this into a table.-->
* 1992: '''Won''' (beat [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 2529–718)
* 1993: '''Won''' (beat [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 2139–1140)
* 1994: Semi-finalist (lost to [[Peter Gilchrist (billiards player)|Peter Gilchrist]], 916–1312)
* 1995: '''Won''' (beat [[Devendra Joshi (billiards player)|Devendra Joshi]], 1661–931)
* 1996: Runner-up (lost to [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 1848–2534)
* 1997: Event was not held
* 1998: '''Won''' (beat [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 1400–1015)
* 1999: <!--Information not available-->
* 2000: Event was not held
* 2001: Quarter-finalist<!--Information not available-->
* 2002: Semi-finalist (lost to Peter Gilchrist, 851–1767)
* 2003: Lost in the group stage
* 2004: Quarter-finalist (lost to David Causier, 722–971)
* 2006: '''Won''' (beat England's [[Lee Lagan]], 2073–1057)
* [[2007 World Professional Billiards Championship|2007]]: Semi-finalist (lost to [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 1231–1835)
* [[2008 World Professional Billiards Championship|2008]]: Runner-up (lost to [[Mike Russell (billiards player)|Mike Russell]], 1342–1821)

== Titles ==
* World Professional Billiards Champion: 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2006
* World Amateur Billiards Champion: 1985, 1987, 2001
* Gold Medalist, 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 and recognition ==
A major sporting hero in India, he is a recipient of India's highest sporting award, the [[Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna]] for 1992–1993; both the [[Padma Shri]] and the [[Arjuna Award]] in 1986; and the [[K. K. Birla Foundation|K.K. Birla Award]], 1993.<ref name="ILI1" /><ref name="TNQ1" />

== Personal life ==
Sethi lives in Ahmedabad,<ref name="TNQ2" /> with his wife Kiran Bir Sethi and their two children, Raag, and Jazz.<ref name="Who">{{Cite web |title=Geet Sethi |url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/sports/geet-sethi.html |publisher=India's Who is Who |access-date=22 April 2008 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604013251/http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/sports/geet-sethi.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to billiards competitions, Sethi runs a private travel agency in Ahmedabad and Mumbai called Raag Travels.<ref name="Who" /> Sethi has an MBA from the [[B.K. School of Business Management]], [[Gujarat University]] and is an alumnus of [[St. Xavier's High School Loyola Hall|St. Xavier's High School]] and [[St. Xavier's College]] in [[Ahmedabad]].<ref name="Who" />

In 2005 he authored an autobiographical [[Self-help|motivational]] book called ''Success vs Joy''.

== Current ventures==
Currently he is promoting a venture called [[Olympic Gold Quest]], committed to supporting Indian sportspersons with Olympic medal-winning potential.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livemint.com/2007/10/05165441/A-strategy-for-medals--Geet-S.html |title=A strategy for medals – Geet Sethi |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=15 November 2009 |date=24 August 2007 |archive-date=9 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009210350/http://www.livemint.com/2007/10/05165441/A-strategy-for-medals--Geet-S.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Sports}}
{{Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sethi, Geet}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Indian players of English billiards]]
[[Category:Indian snooker players]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Delhi]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award]]
[[Category:World champions in English billiards]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists in cue sports]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists in cue sports]]
[[Category:Asian Games bronze medalists in cue sports]]
[[Category:Cue sports players at the 1998 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Cue sports players at the 2006 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Cue sports players at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for India]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists for India]]
[[Category:Asian Games bronze medalists for India]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games]]