Ahmedabad Set To Host Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships - Check India Squad

As one of the world’s premier destinations for cue sports, India will host the second Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships from October 7-10 at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.

The four-day event will see cueists from nearly 46 countries compete across five disciplines – billiards, snooker, heyball, 10-ball pool and blackball -- in both categories (men and women), stated a release from Billiards and Snooker Federation of India on Tuesday.

The championships will feature 16 players in each category in four disciplines, while billiards, which has been included in the programme this year, will be an eight-player draw in each section.

The championships will be held under the aegis of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) and the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), and organised by Apex Sports.

“Ahmedabad is becoming an increasingly important city on the international sporting map, and hosting the Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships here is a significant opportunity for our sport and for India,” said Ishaun Singh, president of the World Pool Association (WPA).

“With the city now preparing to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, this event gives us an opportunity to build a strong connection with the sporting community and audiences here. India has an extraordinary history in cue sports, and from everything we have seen through our recent events," the world body chief added.

“This is the second of the three big-ticket events we will be hosting as part of BSFI’s centenary celebrations,” said S Balasubramaniam, president of the BSFI.

The federation hosted the heyball World Championships, the highest-ever cue sports prize money event in the country, earlier this month in Pune. It would also host the IBSF World Snooker Championships in Indore from November 12-21.

13-member Indian squad

The BSFI named the squad for the Ahmedabad championships on Tuesday. Thirteen cueists (six men and seven women) will represent the country at the four-day event.

Players for the events were picked after the selection trials over the weekend.

Vidya Pillai (women’s heyball gold medallist), Shivam Arora (men’s heyball silver medallist) and Chitra Magimairaj (women’s 10-ball pool silver medallist) received direct entries.

However, Chitra received her direct entry email only after finishing her matches in the trials.

The Indian cueists won five medals -- one gold, two silver and bronze medals apiece -- in the inaugural edition.

The squad:

Men:

Billiards: Siddharth Parikh.

Snooker: Rayaan Razmi.

Heyball: Shivam Arora (Direct entry), Laxman Rawat.

10-ball pool: Divya Sharma.

Blackball: Sundeep Gulati.

Women:

Billiards: Anupama Ramachandran.

Snooker: Keerthana Pandian.

Heyball: Vidya Pillai (Direct entry), Amee Kamani.

10-ball pool: Chitra Magimairaj (Direct entry), Neena Praveen.

Blackball: Natasha Chethan.

Coach: Ashok Shandilya.