Indian cueists assured of five medals

India billiards, Commonwealth Billiards Championships, Shivam Arora, Vidya Pillai, Chitra Magimairaj, Keerthana Pandian, Anupama Ramachandran, cue sports, heyball, 6-red snooker, 10-ball pool, Mauritius billiards, Indian cueists, billiards medals, India sports news

Hyderabad: Indian cueists were assured of five medals in various disciplines on the penultimate day of the inaugural Commonwealth Billiards Championships in Balaclava (Mauritius) on Saturday.

Leading the charge were heyball exponents Shivam Arora (men) and Vidya Pillai (women). Both players made it to the semifinals with lopsided victories in the quarterfinals.

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Keerthana Pandian, the much-improved Kolar cueist, then sailed into the women’s semifinals in 6-red snooker. She was joined by Asian champion Anupama Ramachandran later in the day.

Bengaluru’s Chitra Magimairaj assured India of a fifth medal by storming into the last-four stage in women’s 10-ball pool.

Arora, who has been having a good run on the heyball pro tour in recent times, outclassed Kenya’s Farah Osman Yusuf 9–2 in the quarterfinals. The world No 5 had earlier defeated South Africa’s Kris Pillay by a similar margin in the first round. Arora takes on world No 4 Jason Theron of South Africa for a place in the final.

Results
6-red snooker (quarters)
Women:
Keerthana Pandian (Ind) bt Tan Kim Mei (Mas) 2–0 (27–15, 39–15);
Anupama Ramachandran (Ind) bt Nicola Rossouw (RSA) 2–0 (32–24, 40–29)

Heyball
Men – Quarters: Shivam Arora (Ind) bt Farah Osman Yusuf (Ken) 9–2
Round 1: Arora bt Kris Pillay (RSA) 9–2

Women – Quarters: Vidya Pillai (Ind) bt Doreen Warukinga (Zam) 7–1
Round 1: Vidya bt Ketki Kheerpaul (Mus) 7–2

10-ball pool
Men – Round 1: Anurag Giri (Ind) bt Sundeep Gulati (Ind) 8–8 (5–4)
Women – Quarters: Chitra Magimairaj (Ind) bt Elzetta Koen (RSA) 7–4