BANGALORE: "To me India is the home of billiards," said Ger Murray of Ireland.

The burly 53-year-old Irishman is in Bangalore as the chief referee for the IBSF World billiards championship starting at the Karnataka State Billiards Association from Monday.

In his own words, Murray did not achieve much as a player, but then to stay connected with the sport, he took to officiating.

"I've been refereeing for the last 30 years, but mostly snooker as that is more popular in our country and most of Europe," said the Irishman. "I did my first major billiards assignment in Singapore last year and here I'm again."

Speaking about billiards, Murray did sound a wee bit somnolent.

"In snooker too the angles and such come from billiards. So there is no reason why this game is dying elsewhere. Yes, today not many like to spend much time at the table…that's why even the time format in billiards is not popular," he said.

Praise for Indians

Murray had a word of praise for the Indian cueists.

"I met Pankaj Advani in 2003 when he was playing the World under-21 snooker championship in New Zealand and of course, Geet and Dhruv. They are all gentlemen first and players later. It's splendid talking to them …very humble and down to earth, despite their wondrous feats," he said.

About the infrastructure at the KSBA, Murray was fascinated. "It's wonderful… amazing seeing the facilities," which was echoed by the two other Irishmen in the fray in the championships — Aidan Murray and Larry Drennan.

On the competition in this championship, Murray said: "Well, Mike Russel is not here. But with the likes of Peter Gilchrist (of Singapore), a former World professional champion and Praprut Chaithanasakun (Thailand) in the fray, it's going to be open…but my vote is for one amongst the Indians. They are so dominant in this sport," Murray said.

Meanwhile, Gilchrist, a former Englishman who now represents Singapore,was practising in right earnest, hours after arriving here.