World’s top cue sports stars gather for Heyball World Championships

Hyderabad: A stellar international line-up has gathered at the Khinvasara Billiards and Snooker Academy at the Pune Jairaj Sports & Convention Centre for the $400,000 Apex Sports 3rd WPA Heyball World Championships, commencing this Wednesday.

Boasting six of the world’s top ten men and eight of the top ten women, the elite 128-player field (64 in each category) is the richest cue sports tournament in Indian history, eclipsing the 300,000-pound Indian Open snooker tournament.

On the competition front, world No. 1 Jack Whelan and defending champion Gareth Potts, a four-time World pool champion, among men, and top-ranked women Wendy Jans of Belgium and reigning champion Kelly Fisher will be the cynosures in the four-day extravaganza.

No stranger to India, having won the International Open last year in Chandigarh, the favourite will hope his love affair with the country continues.

Pankaj Advani was handed a wildcard following a few pullouts. The 28-time world champion in billiards and snooker is familiar with the newest cue sports discipline, having tried his hand at it three years ago. With heyball requiring tactical play besides precise potting, the 41-year-old will rely on his snooker safety skills to go deep in the tournament.

In the women’s section, Fisher, one of the all-time greats in cue sports with world titles in four disciplines, will start as the favourite. The Briton will have to contend with Jans, who has several international honours in snooker, including being a 14-time European champion and nine-time IBSF World champion. The Belgian cueist will now set her sights on more laurels in heyball.

Among the 11 Indians in the fray, Amee Kamani, a bronze medallist at the previous edition in Australia, Vidya Pillai, the Commonwealth Billiards Championships gold medallist, and Natasha Chethan, the World junior bronze medallist, will carry the hosts’ hopes.

Anupama Ramachandran, the IBSF World snooker champion, and Varshaa Sanjeev, who is back on the circuit after a three-year hiatus, can both be threats on their day.

“Pune hosting the Worlds is a landmark moment, not just for India, but for the sport globally. India has all the right ingredients for heyball to thrive: a massive, young, sports-loving population, growing infrastructure for cue sports, and incredible passion at the grassroots,” said Ishaun Singh, president of the World Pool Association (WPA).

“This big-ticket event will greatly boost the popularity of heyball in the country,” said BSFI president S Balasubramaniam.