Gritty Vidya reclaims National Snooker title

Karnataka’s Vidya Pillai exacted revenge on the fast-rising Amee Kamani to reclaim the National Snooker Championship title at Indore on Sunday.

Seasoned campaigner Vidya, who lost in last year’s final to Kamani, packed a punch on Sunday, defeating the 23-year-old 4-2 for her ninth national snooker title.

Aditya Mehta too reclaimed the National Snooker Championship title, outplaying the dangerous Manan Chandra 6-3 in the men’s final.

The 30-year-old Mehta, who saw Chandra blast an 112-point break in the opening frame itself,  steadied himself remarkably after the early onslaught to post a convincing 6-3 victory at The Emerald Height International School.

Keerat Bhandal, meanwhile, conjured a memorable double, winning the women’s billiards and junior girls’ snooker titles. In the billiards final she defeated Aranxta Sanchez 3-1 while in the snooker event, she beat Varsha Sanjeev 2-1.

Results (all finals): Men’s snooker: Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 6-3 (0-112 (112), 72 (48)-35, 8-73 (73), 84-7, 49-72, 74-19, 72-33, 128 (128)-1, 83-39).
Women’s snooker: Vidya Pillai (Kar) bt Amee Kamani (MP) 4-2 (36-78, 73-37, 71-35, 0-88, 62-23, 59-32).

Women’s billiards: Keerat Bhandal (Del) bt Aranxta Sanchez (Mah) 3-1 (77-51, 64-75, 76-35, 75-73).

Junior girls snooker: Keerat Bhandal (Del) bt Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) 2-1 (37-69, 57-53, 51-44).