Winning my maiden World Billiards title is a proud feeling: Dhvajj Haria
In a proud moment for Indian cue sports, Ahmedabad's Dhvajj Haria has won the Walter Lindrum Australian Open Billiards Championship 2025 held in Melbourne. An elated Dhvajj tells us, 'I feel proud and overjoyed.
This is my first World Billiards (WBL) title and I want to dedicate it to my father (Girish Haria), who has always supported my dreams. This was a level five tournament, and if I have to draw a comparison, it is like winning a Grand Slam in tennis. It has been a while since I have won an international tournament and I will celebrate the moment with my family and friends in Ahmedabad. In Melbourne, it (temperature) was nine degrees but the moment I landed in Ahmedabad, it was 40 degrees!'
Dhvajj adds, 'Once I won the semi-final against Robert Hall, the momentum was with me but facing the legendary Peter Gilchrist, a multiple-time world champion, in the final was a daunting task. It was a three-hour long final and once I started well and took a big lead (he sealed a convincing 1035–597 win), there was no looking back. I have got congratulatory messages from
Pankaj Advani
, Yasin Merchant and other players, which is a great feeling.
They saw the live telecast and told me that I played well.'
'Happy to see school students taking up cue sports'
Talking about the growing popularity of cue sports in India, Dhvajj shares, 'I am glad to see more youngsters, including school students, taking up cue sports. When I started playing, there were just two categories-under-21 and seniors. Now, there are under-16 and under-18 categories too and there is government support. At the recent National Championships held in Indore, there were more than 1200 entries, which is an encouraging sign.
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Some schools have introduced cue sports as a part of the curriculum, which is a fantastic initiative.'
'Meditation and regular morning walks help me stay focused'
Talking about what helps him in concentrating better, Dhvajj shares, 'Meditation and regular morning walks help me stay focused. As a sportsperson, it's important to be disciplined and these activities are very helpful for achieving that. I am not very active on social media and it is a conscious choice. I am pretty old school that way.
Constantly checking Instagram takes up a lot of time.'
He adds, 'Also, physical fitness is crucial in cue sports because playing three-hour long matches can cause a lot of strain on your neck, shoulder and back. I do a lot of physio exercises to stay in good shape. While everyone appreciates when the results go your way, not many are aware of the constant hard work that an athlete puts in for years to achieve that result. All of us admire Virat Kohli's sixes and PV Sindhu's smashes, but they have followed a rigorous routine since childhood to reach that level.
'
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