Bob nowhere close to retirement

AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 24: At an age when many would be going around with a walking stick, 63-year-old Bob Close is among the 10 best human...

AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 24: At an age when many would be going around with a walking stick, 63-year-old Bob Close is among the 10 best humans in the world who walks with a cue playing a three ball game. And to this day, he is enjoying every bit of that stroll which he commenced more than five decades back.

“The day I stop enjoying the game and become another number on the ranking list, I will quit,” he said. But, “if, at times, billiards gets monotonous, I play snooker.” With such love for the game, he seems glued to the table like the green baize.

On his first visit to the city for the World Billiards Championship, Close could get a taste of local favour during his first outing. If 25-year-old local boy Rupesh Shah wins his first round match, the youngster will play Close, the oldest in fray.

Hailing from Hartlepool in north-east England, Close took the game at the age of 10. “Not just billiards, I was also into football, boxing and cricket. But billiards was special,” he said. But as time passed,boxing and football have been replaced by a more somber sport. But he also follows cricket and football. Not just that, he also inquired about the Davis Cup tennis match between India and England.

The hallmark of Close is his consistency. The high point of his career was the World Championship final which he lost to Michael Ferreira. What separates him from the rest on the circuit is his attitude towards the game.

His sole goal is enjoyment. “I came from an era when sports was something to be enjoyed. Today, it is all money,” he said.

But Close is not the one to sit and rue. “And we seniors are there to explain these things to juniors.”

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With enthusiasm in abundance and skills, it’s an open and shut case — the Bob saga is not closing. Not yet anyway.