Vidya Pillai, a seasoned cueist, reached a watershed moment in her remarkable career when she won the IBSF 6-Red Snooker World Championship title in Doha, Qatar, only days before her 46th birthday. The Bengalurean put up a great performance, overwhelming her opponents throughout the competition, culminating in a 4-1 victory against compatriot Anupama Ramachandran in the final match. Vidya demonstrated her ability in the semifinal match against Bai Yulu, with a significant run of 33 in the second frame and an amazing clearance of 63 in the fourth.
She swept Group ‘A’ with an unblemished all-win record before defeating compatriot Varshaa Sanjeev 3-0 in the pre-quarters.
Vidya’s tremendous skill was on display in the quarterfinal round against On Yee, when she secured a clean 4-0 victory, leaving her opponent with only 15 points in the entire match. Vidya Viswanathan Pillai is an Indian professional snooker player who was born on November 26, 1977 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Vidya Pillai has won several international medals for India, including a gold medal in the 2013 IBSF World Team Snooker Championship. In 2016, she won another gold medal at the IBSF Australian Women’s Ranking Snooker Championship. Notably, she became the first Indian woman to reach the finals of the WLBSA World Women’s Snooker Championship in 2017.
Her achievements include winning a silver medal at the Asian Billiard Sport Championship in Doha in 2016. Vidya finished second in the WLBSA World Women’s Snooker Championship in 2017, barely losing the title to Ng On-yee.
In recognition of her amazing achievements, the Government of Karnataka bestowed the Ekalavya award on her in 2016, recognising her outstanding performance in sports.