Vidya Pillai

Vidya Viswanathan Pillai (born 26 November 1977)[1] is an Indian professional player of snooker. Vidya Pillai grew up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In recognition of her achievements, the Government of Karnataka has bestowed her with the prestigious Ekalavya award in 2016 for outstanding performance in Sports. She has won several International medals for India and in 2013 won the gold medal in the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship, Gold in the IBSF Australian Women's Ranking Snooker Championship in 2016 and was the first Indian woman to reach the finals of the WLBSA World Women's Snooker Championship in 2017 and won the Silver medal as well.[2] She is also a 9-time winner of the National Championship Title.

Vidya V Pillai
Born (1977-11-26) 26 November 1977
Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India
Sport country India
NicknameQueen of the Green
Highest rankingWorld No. 2
Highest break94 (Snooker), 136 in practice
Best ranking finishChampion, IBSF World Team Snooker Championship at Carlow, Ireland

National career

Vidya Pillai credits former Indian international cricketer Hemang Badani for introducing her to the sport when she was aged 22,[2] and the late national billiards champion, TG Kamala Devi, for inspiring her. Pillai is a ten-time Women's National Snooker Champion, her latest victory coming in 2020.[3] She has finished runner-up in three different editions of the tournament in 2006, 2009 and 2015. She also won the Indian National 6-Red Snooker Championship in 2013 & the Indian National 9-Ball Pool Championship in 2005.

In 2017 she was a part of the Chennai Strikers team in the Indian Cue Masters League, where she was teamed up with Pankaj Advani for mixed doubles.[4]

International career

Vidya Pillai made her first international appearance at the 2007 IBSF World Snooker Championship (Ladies) and lost in the quarter-finals.[5] Ever since, she has won a gold medal in the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship in 2013, Gold in the IBSF Australian Women's Ranking Snooker Championship in 2016, Gold in the IBSF Australian Open Women's Snooker Championship in 2010, Two Silver medals in the IBSF World 6 Reds Snooker Championship Women in 2015 and 2016, one Silver in the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship in 2016, two Bronze medals IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2010 and 2012, one Bronze in the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship in 2014 and one Bronze at the WLBSA World Billiards Championship in 2008. She has also won a silver medal at the Asian Billiard Sport Championship held at Doha in 2016. She was runner-up to Ng On-yee at the WLBSA World Women's Snooker Championship in 2017.[6]

Career honours

2020
  • 2020 Indian Women's Snooker Champion[3]

2017

2016
  • Gold - IBSF Australian Women's Ranking Snooker Championship at Sydney, Australia
  • Silver - IBSF World 6 Reds Snooker Championship Women at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
  • Silver - IBSF World Team Snooker Championship at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
  • Silver - Asian Billiard Sports Championship at Al Fujairah, UAE
  • Gold - Indian National Snooker Championship at Indore
  • Silver - Indian National 6-Red Snooker Championship at Kolkata

2015
  • Silver - IBSF 6 Reds snooker Snooker Championship Women at Karachi, Pakistan[8]
  • Bronze - IBSF Australian Open Women's Snooker Championship

2014
  • IBSF World Team Snooker Championship at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt- Bronze
  • Australian Open Women's Snooker Championship at Sydney- Bronze
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Lucknow- Gold[9]

2013
  • IBSF World Team Snooker Championship at Carlow, Ireland- Gold[2]
  • Indian National 6-Red Snooker Championship at Lucknow- Gold
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Gwalior- Gold[10]

2012
  • IBSF World Snooker Championship at Sofia, Bulgaria- Bronze
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Chennai- Gold

2010
  • IBSF World Snooker Championship at Damascus, Syria- Bronze
  • Australian Open Women's Snooker Championship at Sydney- Gold
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Pune- Gold
  • Indian National 6-Red Snooker Championship at Bangalore- Silver
  • Indian National 8-Ball Pool Championship at Delhi- Silver

2009
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Agra- Silver

2008
  • WLBSA World Billiards Championship at Cambridge, England- semi-finalist[11]
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Indore- Gold
  • Indian National 8-Ball Pool Championship at Kolkata - Gold

2007
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Hyderabad- Gold
  • Indian National 8-Ball Pool Championship at Mumbai- Silver

2006
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Chennai- Silver

2005
  • Indian National Snooker Championship at Mumbai- Gold
  • Indian National 9-Ball Pool Championship at Mumbai- Gold
  • Indian National 8-Ball Pool Championship at Jalandhar- Gold

2003

References
  1. "Athlete Profile: VISWANATHAN PILLAI Vidya". ashgabat2017.com. Ashgabat 2017. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. "Vidya Pillai still running for cover despite laurels galore in women's snooker". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  3. Stead, Marcus. "Tournament Winners". Snooker Scene. No. March 2020. Snooker Scene Ltd. p. 20.
  4. "Chennai Strikers, Hyderabad Hustlers win in Indian Cue Masters League". hindustantimes. 20 August 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Chan, Kin-wa (20 March 2019). "Hong Kong's Ng On-yee regains world title after titanic final against Vidya Pillai". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  7. "Vidya Pillai pots silver in Women World Snooker - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  8. "Alok-Rafath wins bronze World Team Championships (Masters)". cuesportsindia.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  9. Sarangi, Y. B. "Advani, Vidya Pillai crowned champions". thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  10. "Indian women win team title in World Snooker Championship - Times of India". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  11. "Evans wins fourth consecutive title". Snooker Scene. No. June 2008. Everton's News Agency. p. 37.
  12. Achal, Ashwin. "Snooker: Rossouw makes Vidya Pillai sweat it out". thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  1. "Advani, Vidya Pillai crowned champions". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.