R.B. Ganesh relishes his refereeing duties more than holding a cue. The 47-year-old, affectionately called RB in cue sport circle, was ranked in state top-5 during his playing career, but he rose to prominence when he started officiating.
“Updating knowledge skills at frequent intervals is the key to the respect you earn from players. Special thanks to then BSFI vice-president S. Balasubramanium, I was able to add the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sport feather to my refereeing cap,” said a modest RB, who will be officiating in the Asian Games scheduled to be held at Guangzhou in China from November 12.
At the age of 17, RB was inspired by watching the then junior state champion Kosaraju Ranjan at the Mahalakshmi Club. He also took to snooker and became a state medallist in the Chennai Port Trust Staff Institute Open Snooker Championship in 1984.
“I was among the top of Tamil Nadu snooker players for four consecutive years and represented the state in the Test series against the Sri Lankan national side in Sri Lanka in 2000,” he added.
A staffer of Chennai Port Trust since 1988, he won many titles in the All India Major Ports Billiards & Snooker Championships. He soon developed a passion for refereeing and guided by officiating stalwarts Ethiraj and Rajmohan, began to hone his skills in that aspect of the game too.
After officiating in many state tournaments, his major break came in the first International ITC Grand Slam Professional Billiards World Championship) in the year 1992. RB never looked back from there and has grown in stature as well as repute as one of the “popular” referees among the players or rather a “players’ referee”. He officiated in the ITC Grand Slam in 1993 and 1994 as well.
Thereafter he has been officiating regularly in all major championships of the country including the Chennai nationals (1995), Florshiem World Billiards in Chennai (1996), World Billiards in Hyderabad (2003) and the Billiards and Snooker Nationals at Gwalior.
He was named as the chief referee for the Chennai Nationals in 2005. In 2006, he officiated in the Asian U-21 Snooker and Senior Billiards Championship at Pune. In 2007, he officiated in the World U-21 Snooker Championship at Goa followed by the Nationals at Bangalore.
In 2008, he officiated in the Nationals at Indore and IBSF World Billiards at Bangalore. In 2009, he officiated in the IBSF World Snooker at Hyderabad, Asian U-21 Snooker and Senior Billiards at Pune and the Nationals at Agra. “The year 2010 proved to be a landmark year for me as I was catapulted into the big league of officiating in overseas tournament beginning with the Asian Snooker Championship in Chantaburi, Bangkok,” he said.
He also refereed at the World Pro-Am 6-Red Snooker Championship in Bangkok where all top professional snooker players Jimmy White, Mark Selby and Mark Williams participated. He also officiated in the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Pune followed by the Nationals. “I am extremely grateful to well-wishers for their continued support and encouragement in successful career as a referee.”