Geet Sethi is the winner of eight world titles, five world professional and three IBSF world billiards championships. He was also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first amateur in the world to compile the maximum 147 break in snooker. 

Geet Sethi Early Life

He was born in Delhi on April 17, 1961. As a 13-year-old, he was a national level junior swimmer. 

Geet Siriram Sethi was attracted to billiards and snooker at a very early age but was not allowed to use the club facilities, as he was too young. But everything changed once he shifted to Ahmedabad. 

The Managing Committee at Gujarat Sports Club made an exception in his case and allowed him to play on members’ table. 

Geet Sethi Billiards

It was there that Geet Sethi met with Satish Mohan, who then was in the prime of his career. He saw and learnt the game with the help of some guidance from the famous player. 

An alumnus of St. Xavier’s School and St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, Geet also did his MBA from the city. He made Ahmedabad his permanent home with managerial job in the Tata Oil Mills. 

Geet Sethi created a sensation of sorts when he bagged both the billiards and snooker title as a junior in 1979.

Then in 1984, he established himself by winning the International Snooker Professional-Cum-Amateur Championship in England and the International Billiards Amateur Championship in Windsor.

He rose to international prominence by winning the IBSF World Amateur Billiards Championships in 1985, versus Bob Marshall in an eight-hour-long final round. In 1987, he again won the IBSF event, as well as the ACBS Asian Billiards Championship.

The same year, he became the first amateur in the world to chalk out a maximum 147 in snooker. 

Sethi lives in Ahmedabad, with his wife Kiran Bir Sethi and their two children, Raag, and Jazz. 

In addition to billiards competitions, Sethi also runs a private travel agency in Ahmedabad and Mumbai called Raag Travels. 

Sethi has an MBA from the B.K. School of Business Management, Gujarat University and is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s High School and St. Xavier’s College in Ahmedabad.

In 2005 he authored an autobiographical motivational book called Success vs Joy.

Geet Sethi Honor and Awards

A major sporting hero in India, he is a recipient of India’s highest sporting award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for 1992–1993; both the Padma Shri and the Arjuna Award in 1986; and the K.K. Birla Award, 1993.

Geet Sethi is a six-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. 

Currently, he is working in a joint venture with Prakash Padukone, called Olympic Gold Quest. He is committed to supporting sportspersons with Olympic medal winning potential.

Currently he is promoting a venture called Olympic Gold Quest, committed to supporting Indian Sportspersons with Olympic medal winning potential. 

In spite of his legendary stature in the game, the unassuming Sethi strives hard to reach new pinnacles in the game and has become a role model for Indian youth.