‘Let me just play a little bit’: Geet Sethi makes billiards comeback at 65

BENGALURU: He doesn’t look his age of 65, but Indian cuesports legend Geet Sethi is quick to acknowledge that appearances can be deceptive.“I may not look it, but I feel my age,” he laughs.But Sethi is like the classics — timeless. The ace cueist, who first picked up a cue in 1974, is set to return to competitive billiards next month, six years after his last appearance at the World Billiards Championship.The Ahmedabad-based player, who reached the knockouts in the 2018 edition, will return to the world stage in Great Wyrley, England, from Oct 19 to 22.Sethi’s comeback story began earlier this year when his peer and former cueist Ashok Shandilya coaxed him into playing a cuesports league in Dadar, Mumbai.“I played that tournament without really practising. But it was so much fun. Then I came back home and said to myself, ‘Let me start. Let me just play a little bit,’” Sethi told TOI.Another spark was lit at the Sports Club of Gujarat in June.“The tournament was on the same lines as what I played earlier in Mumbai. Again, it was so much fun playing with music in the background and getting to meet the entire fraternity,” said the cuesports exponent-turned-seasoned entrepreneur.“It was so good to meet everybody collectively for a long period of time. Since then, I’ve been playing every day. I began to play decently enough to kind of start enjoying the game again. So that’s where the whole trigger started from,” added the nine-time world billiards champion.Before that tournament, Sethi had largely kept in touch with the sport by playing snooker occasionally.But it was a fellow member of the Sports Club of Gujarat who eventually nudged him towards the world championship.“A club member kept pushing me. The thought really came when I started making breaks of 100 and 180. When you start enjoying the game, then the thought comes,” Sethi said.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.