Wilson Jones Biography 
Wilson Jones was a professional player of English billiards from Pune, India. In amateur sports within the country, he remained a dominant figure for more than a decade. He was the first Indian to be a World champion in any sport. He created a new history when he won the amateur world billiards championship twice, in 1958 (Kolkata) and 1964 (New Zealand). He made a name of his own in the games of billiards and snooker. He was one of the first leading names of this sport, who introduced this British game to India and won an international championship too. Till then the game was fully dominated by British and Australian players. Now it’s a game of Indian players too, thanks to Wilson Jones who introduced this game to Indians and popularized it too.
His full name is Wilson Lionel Garton-Jone. Wilson Jones was born on 2 May 1922 in Pune, then a part of Bombay Presidency. His schooling was done at Bishop High School and St. Vincent's High School. Later he joined War Service in 1939. He was introduced to the game of billiards in the 1940s and he won his first national title in 1950. From there on, Indian sports witnessed a new era associated with Wilson Jones and his achievement in billiards, till then a game exclusively for Europeans.
He became national champion 12 times. For his overall contributions towards the field of Indian sports, government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 1965. He was the first sportsman from Billiards to receive Padma Shri. He was also a recipient of Arjuna Award in 1963 and Dronacharya Award in 1996. Jones died following a heart attack on 5 October 2003.
Published: January 30, 2019
Updated: January 30, 2019
