“It was easily one of my best performances in recent times,” gushed Vidya Pillai on her success in the National snooker championship in Pune. This was Vidya's fifth snooker title, having finished runner-up last year.
What was additionally comforting for the Chennai player was that she beat the reigning champion Meenal Thakur, in what observers said was a close final, 3-2 (48-32, 36-72, 32-55, 62-50, 72-11, 78-10).
Last year, a mid-match loss of concentration had affected her performance but this time was it was her sudden change of gears midway that propelled her to title-triumph.
Having lost in the semifinal in the billiards championship earlier, Vidya, who enjoys playing snooker more, showed her resolve with the coloured balls.
“What helped me was the stiff competition I faced from pre-quarterfinals. It was Neena Praveen first, then Chitra Mahimairaj in the quarterfinals and Anuja Chandra in the semifinals,” she said.
“That helped me peak at the right time,” felt Vidya on how she could come back to regain her winning touch. On the final she said, “It was close but I was confident.”
