Michael Ferreira (born 1 October 1938 in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

[now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

]), nicknamed "the Bombay Tiger", is notable amateur player of

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team us ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and a three-time Amateur World Champion. He participated in the Indian National Billiards Championship in 1960 for the first time, and in 1964 represented India in the

World Amateur Billiards Championship The IBSF World Billiards Championship (previously known as the World Amateur Billiards Championship) is the premier, international, non-professional tournament for the game of English billiards. Dating to some form to 1951, the event has been sanc ...

(WABC) held in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where he progressed to the semi-finals.Sports Portal, Ministry of Sports, Govt of India

/ref> In 1977, he won his first World Amateur Billiards Champion title and followed it up with the World Open Billiards Championship title in the same year.
/ref> He has two other WABC titles. In 1978 he became the first amateur to break the barrier of 1,000 points, in the billiards national championships, and created a new amateur world record by scoring 1,149 points.

Early life

Ferreira studied in St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling,News item from Times of India dated 20-Mar-2007
/ref> where he became interested in playing billiards. He was able to sustain his interest in the game during his college days in St. Xavier's College and the Government Law College in Mumbai.

Current life

Currently Ferreira is associated with

Qnet Qnet Ltd, formerly known as QuestNet and GoldQuest, is a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company owned by the QI Group. QNet was founded in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. The company's products include energy, weight m ...

, a

network marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

company. He holds 80 percent shareholding in Vihaan Direct Selling India Private Limited, which is the franchise for the

brand in India. Ferreira faces accusations of misconduct in connection with his investment in Qnet, and has been ordered to surrender to the police. Ferreira has denied the charges, calling them "outrageous, malicious and untruthful". On 30 September 2016, Ferreira, along with three other directors of Vihaan, were arrested by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in relation to the

scam. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court of India.

Awards

Ferreira was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

award in 1981, after he had won his second world amateur title. But he refused to accept this and contended that as cricketer

Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...

was offered the more prestigious

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

award, he too should be awarded the same. He is the first billiards player to be awarded with the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India, which was conferred on him after he won his third world amateur billiards title in 1983. He is also the recipient of the

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

government's Shiv Chhatrapati Award (1971), the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

(1973) and the

International Fair Play Committee The International Fair Play Committee (french: Comité International pour le Fair Play), abbreviated as the CIFP, is a not for profit international non-governmental organisation which serves to foster sportsmanship in international competition. It ...

's Letter of Congratulations (1983). He received the

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ch ...

in 2001 for his coaching achievements in billiards and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

.List of Dronacharya Award recipients from yas.nic.in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Michael 1938 births Living people Indian players of English billiards Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian Roman Catholics Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Sportspeople from Mumbai World champions in English billiards Cue sports players from Maharashtra