World snooker qualifiers: Amee tops group in women's section

Mumbai, Oct 24 (IANS) Indian No. 2 Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh reasserted her dominance over National champion and Indian No. 1 Vidya Pillai of Tamil Nadu by pulling off a crucial win in the concluding round in Womens Z-Camp (2nd leg) and finished as the overall number one in the World Snooker Qualifiers, a BSFI National Selection Tournament, here. Amee had also defeated Vidya in the first leg.

In the battle between the top two Indian women cueists, the 29-year-old Amee lost the opening frame to her senior opponent from Tamil Nadu. But, she made a determined recovery and with a polished break of 55 in the third frame went on to complete a 34-58, 65-45, 75(55)-14, and 61-31 victory. This was her fourth win in the second leg of the competition, which ensured she ended with an overall total of 9716 points (3560 as National runner-up), 3240 (Y-Camp), and 2916 (Z-Camp) to finish in the first position.

"It feels amazing to emerge as the number one player. It was difficult because we were playing our first major tournament after lockdown. Playing competitive matches after more than 18 months was tough and I was a bit nervous since this was the World Cup qualifiers. I had done enough preparations and managed to take it in my stride to play back-to-back matches, which is very tough. I am extremely satisfied with my succ"ss," Amee was quoted s saying in a release on Sunday.

Indian No. 3 Varsha Sanjeev of Tamil Nadu clinched the second position with 9428 points (3204 Nationals, 2624 Y-Camp, 3600 Z-Camp). In her final league match, Varsha defeated Keerath Bhandaal of Delhi 3-1 (66-30, 48-64, 62-11, 65-32).

Vidya finished third with 9291 points (4000, 2916, and 2375), Ta'il Nadu's teenager Anupama Ramchandran was fourth with 9108 points (2884, 3600, and 2624) and followed by K'rnataka's Chitra Magimairaj 7558 points (2362, 1956 and 3240), Maharashtra's Arantxa Sanchis 6941 (2610, 2375 and 1956) and Delhi's Keerath B 6459 points (2161, 2149 and 2149).

Results:
Women's Z-camp (2nd leg): Chitra Magimairaj (KTK) beat Arantxa Sanchis (MAH) 3-2 (67-48, 60-93, 02-66, 73-40, 68-36); Varsha Sanjeev (TN) beat Keerath Bhandaal (DEL) 3-1 (66-30, 48-64, 62-11, 65-32); Amee Kamani (MP) beat Vidya Pillai (KTK) 3-1 (34-58, 65-45, 75(55)-14, 61-31); Varsha Sanjeev (TN) beat Chitra Magimairaj (KTK) 3-1 (10-58, 52-43, 62-25, 64-22); Arantxa Sanchis (MAH) beat Keerath Bhandaal (DEL) 3-2 (20-62, 45-36, 57-34, 37-66, 60-14).