Michael Ferreira (English: Michael Ferreira, born October 1, 1938, Mumbai, Maharashtra) is a great billiards player of India. His nickname is “Mumbai Tiger”. As much as Ferreira has been famous for his game, he has also been known for his revolutionary steps outside the field. He has been continuously demanding equal facilities and respect for other players outside cricket.
Michael Ferreira was born on October 1, 1938 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He studied at ‘St. Joseph’s School’, Darjeeling and it was from there that his interest in the game of billiards began at the age of 16. He later attended ‘St. Xavier’s College’ and ‘Government Law College’, Mumbai to pursue his interest in sports.
Michael Ferreira was ‘Amateur World Champion’ three times. He participated for the first time in the ‘Indian National Billiards Championship’ in 1960 and represented India in the ‘World Amateur Billiards Championship’ (WABC) held in New Zealand in 1964. Here he reached the semi-finals. Ferreira finished third in this match held in New Zealand. This tournament was won by an Indian, William Jones.[1] He then won the World Amateur Billiards title in 1977 and later the same year won the World Billiards Open.
Michael Ferreira was the runner up in the 1969 ‘London World Billiards Championship’, 1973 ‘Mumbai World Billiards Championship’ and 1975 ‘Auckland World Billiards Championship’. Ultimately he won his first World Amateur Championship in Melbourne in 1977. Ferreira won the gold medal at the World Open Billiards Championships in Christchurch. Michael Ferreira wrote a new chapter in the history of Indian Billiards when he broke the 1000 point barrier in the National Billiards Championship in Delhi in 1978 and created a sensation by completing a top break of 630 in the World Billiards Championship in New Delhi in 1981.
Presently Michael Ferreira has a company which believes in helping mankind and is associated with their marketing campaigns under “Team Aastha”. He has seen all the great heights in his career and is currently in financial Help others to achieve freedom.
Michael Ferreira was awarded the ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the Government of India in 1984. He was also awarded ‘Padma Shri’ in 1981, but he refused to accept it and argued that- “Just like cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was given ‘Padma Bhushan’ award, he too should be honored with the same. Needed.” He is the first billiards player to be awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’. Apart from this, he has also received ‘Shiv Chhatrapati Award’ (1971), ‘Arjun Award’ (1973) and ‘International Fair Play Committee’ (1983) congratulatory letter of Maharashtra State Government. He was also awarded the ‘Dronacharya Award’ in 2001 for his coaching achievements in billiards and snooker.