Smooth sailing for Indian women cueists in IBSF World Snooker

Daugavpils (Latvia): It was a good day in office for India's women cueists Vidya Pillai, Arantxa Sanchis and Varsha Sanjeev as they won their respective group league matches of the IBSF World Snooker Championship, here today.

While two-time bronze medallist Pillai registered her third consecutive win of the championship by defeating Australia's Jessica Woods 3-1, Sanchis, who had won the IBSF 6-Red World Snooker gold medal with Pillai in October this year, staved off a stiff challenge before prevailing over Russia's Daria Sirotina 3-2 on day four of the event.

Sanchis went down 1-2 after winning the first frame but kept her nerves in check to eke out a narrow win over Sirotina. Another Indian challenger, Sanjeev gave ample proof of her talent as thumped Poland's Ewa Pawinska 3-0 in a lop-sided contest.

In men's section, Shahbaaz Adil Khan bettered his previous game's performance and outclassed Jacobus Petrus Van Jaarsveld from South Africa in straight frames.

The Indian cueist did not allow his opponent to take advantage over him as he won all four frames 65-25 100(56)-01 64-27 56-46 to seal the match. Brijesh Damani put the disappointment of his 2-4 loss ton Australia's Matthew Bolton behind and scored an emphatic 4-0 win over Russia's Ivan Kakovsky.

However, there was disappointment in store for both the Indian cueists -- Nigel Lazar and S A Saleem -- in the Masters section (above 40) as they lost their respective matches. While Saleem lost 2-3 against Finland's Jyri Virtanen, Lazar was overwhelmed by England's Jamie Bodle 0-3.

Results: (Indian Players) Men's: Shahbaaz Adil Khan beat Jacobus Petrus Van Jaarsveld: 4-0 (65-25, 100(56)-01, 64-27, 56-46). Brijesh Damani beat Ivan Kakovsky: 4-0 (72-08, 51-08, 63-18, 65-21). Women's: Vidya Pillai beat Jessica Woods: 3-1 (18-57, 61-15, 67-44, 50-39). Varsha Sanjeev beat Ewa Pawinska: 3-0 (55-38, 56-43, 57-35). Arantxa Sanchis beat Daria Sirotina: 3-2 (52-39, 33-69, 51-72, 56-48, 62-36). Masters: Jyri Virtanen beat S A Saleem: 3-2 (85-25, 56-61, 67-46, 32-45, 68-58). Jamie Bodle beat Nigel Lazar: 3-0 (63-29, 68-32, 73(67)-13).