Heyball National Championships: Varsha Sanjeev Enters Women's Semifinals After Shootout Win Over Amee Kamani

Dehradun, July 6: Despite returning to the cue sports circuit after a three-year hiatus, Varsha Sanjeev showed no signs of rust and sailed into the women's semifinals of the second Heyball National Championships here on Monday.

Varsha Sets Up Vidya Clash

The Karnataka cueist edged out the formidable Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh in a shootout after being tied 6-6 in regulation time. Varsha, who had beaten Amee in the double-elimination round earlier in the morning, will face reigning champion Vidya Pillai of Karnataka in the last-four stage.

Vidya, who suffered a defeat at the hands of L. Shruthi earlier in the double-elimination round, overcame Anupama Ramachandran of Tamil Nadu 5-3 in the quarterfinals.

In the other semifinal, two-time junior champion Natasha Chethan will take on Shruthi. While Natasha edged out fellow Karnataka cueist Keerthana Pandian 4-3, Shruthi defeated Tamil Nadu state-mate Neena Praveen 6-4.

A former national snooker champion, Varsha's ball-striking was immaculate and her potting spot-on for the better part of the match against Amee in the quarterfinals. She held the lead right through in the race-to-7, 90-minute encounter. With the scores level at 6-6, Varsha potted the black twice in the shootout (similar to a penalty shootout) to emerge a worthy winner.

Men's Semifinal Line-Up

In the men's section, Brijesh Damani stunned fancied Shivam Arora of Maharashtra 9-6 to storm into the semifinals. Damani will meet fellow PSPB cueist Laxman Rawat, who defeated Himanshu Jain of Telangana 7-5.

The other semifinal pits Paras Gupta of Uttar Pradesh against Divya Sharma. While Gupta overcame Abhinav Dhiman of Haryana 8-6, Sharma emerged a 9-6 victor against Kamal Chawla of RSPB.

Results

Men

Quarterfinals: Laxman Rawat (PSPB) bt Himanshu Jain (Tel) 7-5; Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Shivam Arora (Mah) 9-6; Paras Gupta (UP) bt Abhinav Dhiman (Har) 8-6; Divya Sharma (Har) bt Kamal Chawla (RSPB) 9-6.

Pre-quarterfinals: Arora bt Pushpender Singh (RSPB) 9-6; Damani bt Harish Kumar (Kar) 9-3; Rawat bt Sean Davis (Kar) 8-6; Jain bt Ashutosh Padhy (Odi) 9-4; Divya bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 9-1; Kamal bt S. Shrikrishna (PSPB) 9-4; Paras bt Anmoldeep Singh (Pun) 7-6; Dhiman bt Uzair Khan (MP) 5-5 (shootout).

Heyball National Championships: Varsha Sanjeev Enters Women's Semifinals After Shootout Win Over Amee Kamani

Varsha Sanjeev continued her impressive comeback by defeating Amee Kamani in a shootout to reach the women's semifinals of the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun. She will face defending champion Vidya Pillai next, while Natasha Chethan and L Shruthi will contest the other semifinal.