Michael Ferreira (born 1 October 1938 in
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
[now
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
]), nicknamed "the Bombay Tiger", is a notable amateur player of
English billiards
English billiards, called simply billiards in the UK 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 uses a diffe ...
from
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, 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 (WABC) held in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, 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
St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling, popularly called North Point or N.P. (as it serves as a landmark for the North Point locality in Darjeeling), is a private Catholic school primary and secondary school for boys located in Darjeeling, West Bengal ...
,[News item from Times of India dated 20-Mar-2007](_blank)
/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, a network marketing company. He holds 80 percent shareholding in Vihaan Direct Selling India Private Limited, which is the franchise for the Qnet 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 Qnet scam.
Awards
Ferreira was awarded the Padma Shri
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), 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. In ...
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 "Sunny" Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ born 10 July 1949), is a former captain of the Indian national cricket team who represented India national cricket team, India and Mumbai crick ...
was offered the more prestigious Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...
award, he too should be awarded the same.Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
government's Shiv Chhatrapati Award (1971), the Arjuna Award
The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given 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 Arjun ...
(1973) and the International Fair Play Committee
The International Fair Play Committee (), abbreviated as the CIFP or the IFPC, is a not for profit international non-governmental organisation which serves to foster sportsmanship in international competition. It presents awards annually at the ...
's Letter of Congratulations (1983).snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
.[List of Dronacharya Award recipients from yas.nic.in](_blank)
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