Despite returning to the cue sports circuit after a three-year hiatus, Varsha Sanjeev showed no signs of rust and sailed into the women’s semifinals of the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun on Monday.
The Karnataka cueist edged out the formidable Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh in a shootout after being tied 6-6 in regulation time. Varsha, who had beaten Amee in the double elimination round earlier in the morning, will face reigning champion Vidya Pillai of Karnataka in the last four stage.
Vidya, who suffered a defeat at the hands of L Shruthi earlier in the double elimination round, overcame Anupama Ramachandran of Tamil Nadu 5-3 in the quarterfinals.
Karnataka’s Natasha retains heyball title by outplaying Padmakshee 5-1 in final
In the other semifinals, two-time junior champion Natasha Chethan will take on Shruthi. While Natasha edged out fellow Karnataka cueist, Keerthan Pandian, 4-3, Shruthi defeated Tamil Nady statemate Neena Praveen 6-4.
Varsha’s ball-striking was immaculate
A former National snooker champion, Varsha’s ball-striking was immaculate and her potting spot-on for the good part of the match against Amee in the quarters. She held the lead right through in the race-to-7, 90-minute encounter. With the scores level (6-6), Varsha potted the black twice in the shootout (similar to a penalty shootout) to emerge a worthy winner.
In the men’s section, Brijesh Damani stunned fancied Shivam Arora of Maharashtra 9-6 to storm into the semifinals. Damani will meet fellow PSPB cueist Laxman Rawat, who defeated Himanshu Jain of Telangana 7-5.
The other semifinal pits Paras Gupta of Uttar Pradesh against Divya Sharma. While Gupta overcame Abhinav Dhiman of Haryana 8-6, Sharma emerged a 9-6 victor against Kamal Chawla of RSPB.
Results: Men (quarterfinals): Laxman Rawat (PSPB) beat Himanshu Jain (Tel) 7-5; Brijesh Damani (PSPB) beat Shivam Arora (Mah) 9-6; Paras Gupta (UP) beat Abhinav Dhiman (Har) 8-6; Divya Sharma (Har) beat Kamal Chawla (RSPB) 9-6.
Pre-quarterfinals: Arora beat Pushpender Singh (RSPB) 9-6; Damani beat Harish Kumar (Kar) 9-3; Rawat beat Sean Davis (Kar) 8-6; Jain beat Ashutosh Padhy (Odi) 9-4; Divya beat Manan Chandra (PSPB) 9-1; Kamal beat S Shrikrishna (PSPB) 9-4; Paras beat Anmoldeep Singh (Pun) 7-6; Dhiman beat Uzair Khan (MP) 5-5 (shootout).
Women (quarterfinals): L Shruthi (TN) beat Neena Praveen (TN) 6-4; Natasha Chethan (Kar) beat Keerthana Pandian (Kar) 4-3; Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) beat Amee Kamani (MP) 6-6 (shootout); Vidya Pillai (Kar) beat Anupama Ramachandran (TN) 5-3.
