India’s Vidya Pillai dug deep to eke out a 79-21, 54-66, 9-56, 52-24, 53-44 victory over South Africa’s Nicola Illse Rossouw in the IBSF World snooker championship here on Saturday. In a match which generally lacked rhythm or flow, Vidya sunk the colours in a tense finish to remain unbeaten after three matches.
Vidya raced to a 23-0 lead in the fifth frame, but a missed black pot cut the break short. Nicola responded with a 23 of her own, and once again, a black miss brought the end. Both players traded safeties and the occasional pot, before a fluke yellow gave the visitor a 44-41 lead. The resulting apology was greeted with a wry smile from Vidya, who saw the match slipping away. She did get another opportunity at the table, and this time, she stroked a flowing clearance of the green, brown, blue and pink to clinch the tie.
Important win“It was not my best performance, but it was an important win. I tried everything to get into some rhythm, but it did not work,” Vidya stated. The 36-year-old added that she found it hard to adjust to Nicola's unorthodox style of play. “She plays a lot of pool. So, everything she did was unpredictable — choice of angles, choice of shots. When we play, we always work to a plan. It was not possible to do that in this match,” she said.
Local favourite Pankaj Advani overcame “tough conditions” to register his fourth consecutive win, by shutting down countryman Lucky Vatnani 44-74, 60-32, 12-60, 98-0, 80-3, 72-21. After going 1-2 down, Advani made the adjustment to the slow tables by avoiding all tricky pots.
Hopes of a big break vanished as both players refused to take unnecessary risks, before a clean 68-break from Pankaj in the sixth frame — accumulated through repeated pink pots — took him past the finish-line.
Speaking after the match, Advani said: “These are tough conditions. The ball is damp and heavy, and the table cloth is thick. It was a case of making many small breaks, rather than going for the centuries.”
It was a good day in the office for Kamal Chawla (men), Chitra Magimairaj and Amee Kamani (both women), as the three cueists extended their all-win records to inch closer to the knockout round.
A smooth 79-break proved the highlight in Zhao Xintong’s comfortable victory over Mateusz Baranowski.
The talented 17-year-old Chinese cueist now has two victories after starting his campaign with a loss.
Important results:
Men: Thor Chuanleong (Mal) bt Jurian Heusdens (Bel) 8-74, 74-29, 45-59, 71-16, 93-26, 56-14; Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Mikhail Terekhov (Rus) 99-0, 29-72, 67-28, 92-7, 121-6; Manan Chandra (Ind) bt Paul Bason (NZ) 72-01, 59-26, 98-12, 76-42; Boonyarit Keattikun (Tha) bt Alvin Barbero (Phi) 69-16, 123-09, 81-28, 75-42; Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Lucky Vatnani (Ind) 44-74, 60-32, 12-60, 98-0, 80-3, 72-21; Zhao Xintong (Chi) bt Mateusz Baranowski (Pol) 68-56, 66-15, 56-64, 127-0, 92-47.
Women: Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Neena Praveen (Ind) 82-5, 85-38, 53-45; Amee Kamani (Ind) bt Akram Mohammadi Amini (Ira) 43-22, 81-18, 72-1; Siraphat Chitchomnart (Tha) bt Alexandra Teramoto Miyuki (Bra) 89-16, 59-31, 57-42; Chitra Magimairaj (Ind) bt Meenal Thakur (Ind) 51-39, 61-71, 52-42, 53-24; Vidya Pillai (Ind) bt Nicola Illse Rossouw (RSA) 79-21, 66-54, 56-9, 52-24, 53-44; Jessica Woods (Aus) bt Suniti Damani (Ind) 91-93, 68-31, 57-27, 67-32; Judy Walia (Ind) bt Madeleine Jeanne Young (RSA) 62-30, 62-32, 35-62, 80-21; So Man Yan (HK) bt Varsha Sanjeev (Ind) 28-63, 66-25, 86-1, 68-24.
