Aditya Mehta

Early career

Mehta began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. He was nominated for a Main Tour place for the 2008/2009 season. He was the first Indian to play on Main Tour since Yasin Merchant did in the 1990s. He fell off the tour at the end of the season but regained a place for the 2011/2012 season due to being awarded the Asian nomination. Aditya won a Silver and a Bronze medal in Men's Snooker Team and Men's Snooker Singles respectively, at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.

2011/2012 season

In the 2011/2012 season Mehta would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the main draws of all ranking events. He came closest to doing so in the second event of the season, the Shanghai Masters. Mehta beat Stuart Carrington 5–0, Rod Lawler and Jamie Jones both 5–4, before losing to former world number 6 Ryan Day 2–5. He played in 10 of the 12 minor ranking PTC Events, with his best result coming in Event 9 where he beat two-time World Championship runner-up Matthew Stevens 4–3 in the last 16, but then lost to Martin Gould 1–4 in the quarter-finals. In April, Mehta won the 2012 Asian Snooker Championship with a 7–5 victory over compatriot Pankaj Advani. He finished the snooker season ranked world number 80 and therefore out of the top 64 who retain their places for the next season, however, due to his recent win he earned a spot on the tour for the 2012/2013 season.

2012/2013 season

Mehta started the season by almost qualifying for the first tournament of the season, the Wuxi Classic. He beat Sam Baird 5–3, James Wattana and Jimmy White both 5–1, but then lost out to Jamie Cope 4–5 in the final round. He also lost in the final qualifying round for the Shanghai Masters following a 3–5 defeat to Mark King.

Mehta reached the main stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career in August, by qualifying for the International Championship. He overcame Michael Leslie and Mike Dunn, both by 6–3 scorelines, and then came back from 3–5 down to beat Jimmy White for the second time this season. In the last round he gained revenge over Jamie Cope following his loss at the same stage in the Wuxi Classic, by triumphing 6–4 to seal his place at the event in Chengdu, China, in October. There he defeated Zhu Yinghui in the wildcard round, before winning 6–4 against Stuart Bingham, who had already won two titles earlier in the season, to set up a last 16 meeting with world number two Judd Trump. In his first televised match in a major ranking tournament Mehta was outclassed by his opponent as he lost 0–6. However, his run in the tournament matched the best performance by an Indian player in a ranking event set by Yasin Merchant over two decades earlier. The rest of the season was quiet for Mehta as he could not qualify for another event, with his year ending in the second round of World Championship Qualifying, following a 9–10 loss to Alan McManus. He finished the season ranked world number 73.

2013/2014 season

In July 2013, Mehta won the World Games by beating Liang Wenbo 3–0 in the final to become the first Indian to win the gold medal. The 2013/2014 season saw the introduction of a ranking event held in India for the first time. Mehta qualified for it by seeing off Xiao Guodong 4–2. In the first round of the event held in New Delhi he made a break of 127 in the deciding frame against Peter Ebdon to win 4–3 and then beat Hammad Miah 4–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career. Mehta defeated two-time world champion Mark Williams 4–2 to face compatriot Pankaj Advani in the quarter-finals in an iconic match in Indian snooker as the winner would be the first semi-finalist of a ranking event in the country's history. In a match heavily bound in tactical play it was Mehta who triumphed with a 4–3 win. His remarkable run continued as he held his nerve from 3–0 up against Stephen Maguire to edge through 4–3 and reach the final. His tournament came to an abrupt end, however, as he lost 5–0 to Ding Junhui but he did earn a cheque of £25,000 as the tournament's runner-up. A month later he was beaten in the quarter-finals of the minor-ranking Antwerp Open 4–0 by Jack Lisowski and finished 29th on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 25 who reached the Finals. Mehta's season was unremarkable after that as he could not advance beyond the first round of a ranking event. He increased his ranking by 24 places during the season to end it as the world number 49.

2014/2015 season

Mehta could not come through the qualifying rounds of the first three ranking events of the 2014/2015 season, before beating James Wattana 6–3 to play in the International Championship where he was whitewashed 6–0 by Michael White in the first round. At the UK Championship he saw off Alex Davies 6–4, before losing 6–1 to Judd Trump in the second round. He reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time this year by eliminating Sydney Wilson 4–0 and world number five Barry Hawkins 4–2 at the Welsh Open, but Alan McManus beat Mehta 4–0. Mehta held a 3–0 lead over Mark King and missed match ball to wrap it up 4–1. Instead, King levelled at 3–3 and Mehta took the deciding frame to play world number eight Ricky Walden in the second round. Mehta was defeated 4–2 and stated that the difference between his 50th placing in the world rankings and Walden's was obvious in the match. His only match before the end of the season was a 10–7 loss to Jak Jones in the opening round of World Championship qualifying.

2015/2016 season

Mehta qualified for the International Championship, but lost in the wildcard round 6–4 to Wang Yuchen. Before the UK Championship he stated that a neck injury sustained in June 2014 had been affecting his practice hours and confidence in his game. He had also changed his stance to the more conventional one of keeping the right leg straight instead of bending both legs, which he had used for the previous eight years. Mehta defeated Sam Baird 6–5 at the UK, before losing 6–2 to Neil Robertson in the second round. He resigned from the tour in February 2016 in order to recover from his neck injury. Mehta has qualified for a two-year tour card due to finishing 53rd on the European Order of Merit and plans to resume his career next season.

2016/2017 season

Mehta kept up his 100% record of qualifying for the International Championship by beating Jack Lisowski 6–4 and then eliminated Ryan Day 6–2, before losing 6–3 to Joe Perry. He was defeated 4–3 after having been 3–0 ahead of Anthony McGill in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open. He also got to the second round of the Scottish Open and exited 4–2 to Noppon Saengkham. A 5–2 victory over Barry Hawkins saw Mehta play in the China Open and he won three frames to square his first round match with Li Hang at 4–4, but lost the decider.

Other

Aditya Mehta is brand ambassador of Snooker Portal www.rkgsnooker.com and writes regular blog posts and column for Indian Sports portal – [2]