She is only 14 and has been involved with the sport for the past two years. Varsha Sanjeev is already a National champion in snooker. The eight standard student of Sophia HS won the Junior Girls National snooker title at Pune recently defeating Arantxa Sanches of Maharashtra in straight frames in the final.
In the semi-finals, the Bangalore girl had outclassed Delhi's B. Keerat, also in straight frames. Varsha had lost to Arantxa in the billiards final, three days earlier and had lost to Keerat in the semi- finals in her maiden National appearance last year at Agra.
Thrilling win
“I am thrilled by this win. I want to bag the World title,” she says. Varsha used to watch lots of cue sports on television. Her mother, M.C. Usha Rani, Anekal Tahsildar gave her incentives to further develop interest in the sport.
“She is sharp, calculative and a good learner,” say her engineer father, Sanjeev Kumar. He adds, “We took her to the YMCA Summer Camp in 2008 when she was just 11. It gave her a better feel of cue sports.”
Initially, Varsha, disappointed by the lack of opportunities, gave up and tried her hand at swimming and chess. However, some sessions at YMCA evinced her interest and she participated in the annual camp at the Karnataka State Billiards Association.
“I started playing at the KSBA with my idols - Pankaj Advani and Chitra Magimairaj. It was a dream come true to watch them play and I managed to pick up the fine nuances of the game. Once I began playing at the competitive level, I realised that I could do better with a proper coaching regime. I joined training under coach M.G. Jayaram last December,” says Varsha.
By putting in three or four hours of practice everyday, Varsha is ranked third in snooker and fourth in billiards in the State, which boasts of players like R. Uma Nagaraj and Chitra Magimairaj .
Varsha did not achieve much success in the sub junior nationals this year and was defeated by Lahiri of Andhra Pradesh in billiards to finish third. She lost to Saniya Arif in snooker.
“In the competition in Pune, I played without any pressure and gained in confidence with each outing. The win over Keerat was a morale booster and I went into the final against Arantxa in a positive state of mind. The loss to Arantxa in the billiards final helped me assess my strengths.”
“I like billiards better than snooker, although I will continue playing both forms. My coach told me to concentrate on billiards .”
Varsha's sister, Tejashree, is a State champion in 20 metres and 30 metres in archery and has been ranked sixth nationally. She has taken a break this year to concentrate on her 10 standard board exams. Sanjeev and Usha Rani surely have reasons to smile and hope.
