Vidya Pillai of Tamil Nadu retained her senior women's snooker title with a 53-34, 43-53, 92-15, 54-15 win in the best-of-five frame final over Arantxa Sanchis, at the Hash 10-World Sim Nationals, here on Monday.
Arantxa, who held the lead at least once in three of the four frames, did not have enough in her arsenal to overcome six-time National champion Vidya, whose superior break-building got her out of jail on most occasions.
Decisive break
Trailing 25-9 in the first frame, Vidya assumed the lead with a break of 28, which proved decisive. Arantxa did not register a single break of over 10 in the first frame and it was not until halfway through the second frame that she got into her groove. Three visits to the table saw her accumulate 45 points and went on to level the final at a frame apiece.
Vidya, who was a single pot (black) away from nicking the second frame, put the disappointment past her to storm the third 92-15, beginning and ending it with breaks of 44 and 18 respectively. The fourth frame saw both players embrace caution, as the position remained closed by mutual agreement.
Vidya's miscue at 11-5 opened it up considerably and when Arantxa missed her chance, the defending champion knocked in successive breaks of 16, to claim the frame (54-15) and the title.
Neena Praveen third
In a contest that was decided more by fouls than breaks, Tamil Nadu's Neena Praveen claimed third place with a 2-0 (53-31, 26-17) win in the best-of-three frame contest against West Bengal's Suniti Damani.
Late on Sunday, Vidya lost the first frame against compatriot Neena but came from behind to win the last-four match-up 3-1 (30-57, 60-49, 57-16, 60-17) while Arantxa blanked Suniti 3-0 (42-14, 70-2, 72-42) in the second semifinal.
The results (senior womens' snooker): Final: Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Arantxa Sanchis (Mah) 53-34, 43-53, 92-15, 54-15. Third place: Neena Praveen (TN) bt Suniti Damani (WB) 53-31, 26-17.
Semifinals: Vidya bt Neena 30-57, 60-49, 57-16, 60-17; Arantxa bt Suniti 42-14, 70-2, 72-42.
