Michael Ferreira

Michael Ferreira (born 1 October 1938 in Bombay [now Mumbai]), nicknamed "the Bombay Tiger", is an Indian amateur player of English billiards, and a three-time Amateur World Champion. He participated in the Indian National Billiards Championship in 1960 for the first time, and in 1964 represented India in the World Amateur Billiards Championship (WABC) held in New Zealand, where he progressed to the semi-finals. In 1977, he won his first World Amateur Billiards Champion title and followed it up with the World Open Billiards Championship title in the same year. He has two other WABC titles. In 1978 he became the first amateur to break the barrier of 1,000 points, in the billiards national championships, and created a new amateur world record by scoring 1,149 points. where he became interested in playing billiards. He was able to sustain his interest in the game during his college days in St. Xavier's College and the Government Law College in Mumbai. Ferreira faces accusations of misconduct in connection with his investment in Qnet, and has been ordered to surrender to the police. Ferreira has denied the charges, calling them "outrageous, malicious and untruthful".

On 30 September 2016, Ferreira, along with three other directors of Vihaan, were arrested by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in relation to the Qnet scam. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court of India.

Awards and honors Ferreira was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1981, after he had won his second world amateur title. But he refused to accept this and contended that as cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was offered the more prestigious Padma Bhushan award, he too should be awarded the same. He is also the recipient of the Maharashtra state government's Shiv Chhatrapati Award (1971), the Arjuna Award (1973) and the International Fair Play Committee's Letter of Congratulations (1983).