Bengaluru: A fun-loving, jovial character by nature and a tough contender at the table, sums up rising star Dhvaj Haria. Having secured knockout berths in both the formats in the ongoing World Billiards Championship, the youngster is giving the top ranked players a tough run.
The 23-year-old who defeated the likes of Siddharth Parikh and B Bhaskar, and also gave World champion Peter Gilchrist a tough match, opens up about his early days amongst other things.
Haria who has tried his hand at all sports, took a fancy to the green baize at the age of ten. “I started when I was around ten and used to play most games at the club, table tennis, tennis and other games. I used to get exhausted and went to the billiards room to relax in the air-conditioned hall.
“I saw quite a few kids and seniors playing the game and I just picked up a cue and started playing. It felt good, no sweat in the a/c hall and I was happy playing the sport. Initially, it was the markers who taught me the nuances of the sport and they said I could blossom in the sport,” said the Gujarat lad.
After winning his first title in 2008, the state junior snooker crown, the 23-year-old shifted his focus to billiards. “Initially I played only snooker and then shifted to billiards. I was playing both the games but didn’t have knowledge of billiards early on.
“Everybody starts with snooker — so many balls and fun to play. Billiards is very boring to watch, but fun to play. I think, in India, you should play both. In India, everyone plays snooker all day and they don’t know how the ball reacts on the table. It is very tough to break into the elite level of snooker.
“It is a very tough circuit (professional snooker) and only Aditya (Mehta) is doing well while Pankaj (Advani) just returned from the pro snooker tour. There is a lot of prize money but billiards is in our blood. You can win many Asian and World titles in billiards, but in snooker it is very competitive. Billiards is better than snooker, in my personal opinion.” said Haria.
