Vidya Pillai wins gold at Commonwealth Billiards meet

Vidya Pillai clinched gold in heyball at the Commonwealth Billiards Championships after a tense shootout win over Marina Jacobs. Chitra Magimairaj and other Indians also returned with medals

Hyderabad: Seasoned cueist Vidya Pillai held her nerve under pressure to win the heyball gold medal at the inaugural Commonwealth Billiards Championships in Balaclava (Mauritius) on Sunday.

The 47-year-old Indian, a former world champion in 6-red snooker, edged out South Africa’s Marina Jacobs 5-5 (3-1 in shootout) in the women’s final that went to the wire.

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Earlier, India’s Chitra Magimairaj suffered heartbreak in the gold-medal match, losing to Singapore’s Venus Lim Xinyi in a shootout (3-4) after being tied 5-5 in the women’s 10-ball pool. Chitra had outplayed Australia’s Leanne Haas 7-0 in the semifinals in the morning.

Among other Indians, Anupama Ramachandran and Keerthana Pandian settled for the bronze medal, losing their respective semifinals in women’s 6-red snooker. While Anupama went down fighting 1-2 to England’s Rebecca Kenna, Keerthana lost 0-2 to Singapore’s Chua Peifen Audrey.

“I am absolutely chuffed to win this (gold) for all of India,” said Vidya after the nervy final.

It seemed like one-way traffic when Vidya jumped to a quick 5-1 lead with some amazing potting in the title clash. But a couple of poor shot selections in the subsequent frames allowed her rival to force her way back into the match.

Needing no second invitation, Jacobs rallied in splendid style to reel off four straight frames, the 10th with just 10 seconds left on the clock to force a shootout. Vidya, known for her snooker prowess and knowledge of angles, roared back in fine fashion to win the resultant shootout 3-1 and take the gold.

Results: Heyball: Women – Final: Vidya Pillai (Ind) bt Marina Jacobs (RSA) 5-5 (3-1 shootout)
Semis: Vidya bt Naiga Rukia (Uga) 7-2

Men – Semis: Shivam Arora (Ind) bt Jason Theron (RSA) 9-5

6-red snooker: Women – Semis: Anupama Ramachandran (Ind) lost to Rebecca Kenna (Eng) 1-2 (64-7, 26-51, 20-39)
Keerthana Pandian (Ind) lost to Chua Peifen Audrey (Sin) 0-2 (30-49, 31-50)

Men – Quarters: Pankaj Advani (Ind) lost to Michael Georgiou (Cyp) 2-3 (1-50, 43-1, 27-26, 19-61, 5-43)

10-ball pool: Women – Final: Chitra Magimairaj (Ind) lost to Venus Lim Xinyi (Sin) 5-5 (3-4)

Semis: Chitra bt Leanne Haas (Aus) 7-0