It was always a case of so near yet so far for ace Indian cueist Aditya Mehta in his nearly a decade-long career and the seasoned journeyman said he surprised himself as he graduated from bronze to gold at the World Games in Cali, recently.
"I am just over the moon. This trip to Colombia was probably the best moment in my life. The format was tricky being a best of five and knockout. Even the table conditions were very different from what we are used to. I was surprised at how well I adapted to them. I just focused on the basics and tried to keep it simple," Mehta told PTI in an e-mail interview.
Mehta, the undisputed king of the Indian snooker, has often found himself finishing second-best in major tournaments but the 27-year-old Mumbaikar has finally been able to break the shackles and silence his critics with a gold medal-winning performance at the World Games.
"It's just been such a long journey. My entire career has been about slow and steady improvement. I have learnt many lessons along the way. And to progress from the bronzes and silvers to gold medal was a matter of self-belief. I am really happy with this achievement," Mehta said.
By Mehta's own admission, he is living the best moment of his life after putting India on the global snooker map with his stupendous show.
"The quarterfinal victory gave me a lot of confidence coming from 2-1 down and 50 points behind in the fourth frame. After that I think I played some of my best snooker till the end. It's easily the biggest moment of my career. It's a massive stage and I am proud that I could put India on the global snooker map," he added.
Mehta became the first Indian to win the World Games title after comfortably defeating his higher-ranked Chinese opponent and pre-tournament favourite, Liang Wenbo, in the summit clash of the quadrennial event on Tuesday.
