Vidya Pillai clinches Heyball gold in Commonwealth Billiards tourney

Balaclava (Mauritius), Jul 6 (PTI) Seasoned Indian cueist Vidya Pillai held her nerve to win the Heyball gold medal at the inaugural Commonwealth Billiards Championships here on Sunday.

The 47-year-old, 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.

It seemed like a 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 her knowledge of angles, roared back to win the shootout 3-1 to take the gold.

India’s Chitra Magimairaj suffered a heartbreak in the gold-medal match, losing to Singapore’s Venus Lim Xinyi in a shootout (3-4) after being 5-5 in the women’s 10-ball pool.

Chitra outplayed Australia’s Leanne Haas 7-0 earlier in the semifinals.

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.

Results: Heyball: Women: Final: Vidya Pillai (Ind) beat Marina Jacobs (RSA) 5-5 (3-1 shootout).

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); Anurag Giri (Ind) lost to Craig Bouwer (RSA) 5-6.

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