05 October,2016 06:55 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar
Michael Ferreira, the name and face of the cueing fraternity, is in the lock-up at the police commissioner’s office in Crawford Market in connection with the QNet scam
Ashok Shandilya (left) and Yasin Merchant
Michael Ferreira, the name and face of the cueing fraternity, is in the lock-up at the police commissioner's office in Crawford Market in connection with the QNet scam.
The Padma Bhushan recipient had won the Arjuna award, the Shiv Chhatrapati Award, the International Fair Play Committee's Letter of Congratulations, and the Dronacharya Award.
For the love of the man
Ashok Shandilya, former world billiards champion, also invested in QNet "out of respect for Michael Ferreira".
"Let us get this straight," said Shandilya, "I was not fooled. I knew these multi-level marketing schemes do not work. That aside, Ferreira is a great guy and coach and instilled the belief in me to beat Geet Sethi."
Shandilya added that it is "unfortunate" that "Michael got into this. There is a man from Pune who got Michael into this, nobody is talking about him," added the Central Railway sports officer.
For Mumbai's Subhash Agrawal, coach with the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India, "We are still unclear about the entire silsila (matter). I knew that QNet was being talked about in our circles. He (Michael) had tried to make me a member, but I had declined."
Sad state of affairs
Former Asian Games snooker gold medallist Yasin Merchant said he was "sorry it has come to this for Michael Ferreira at 79 years of age". "He tried to rope me into this scheme, but I never fell for it as I always thought that the top tier would make money but what about the person at the bottom. Then, I also saw that not that many were joining. It was drying up, so it would always be difficult to get members and it would not be lucrative," explained Merchant.
Devendra Joshi said Ferreira's news came as a "shock" amidst his preparations for the World Billiards Championships in Leeds (England) next week.
"We knew, of course, that Michael was actively involved in QNet, but I as a player, a travelling companion, at times for tourneys, and as a person, who has known him for so many years, never saw any traits of that of a conman in him. We differed on certain things about the game, but we always appreciated his inputs."
