Incredible India Are World Cup Winners
Team India A have defeated England A 4-3 following a thrilling match to win the 2023 Women’s Snooker World Cup at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand.
Represented by Amee Kamani and Anupama Ramachandran, the leading team from India emerged successful from a knockout draw which saw them overcome Thailand C and Thailand A to reach the final, before they toppled the team that featured two of the world’s top four players to claim a famous victory. All three knockout wins were earned following deciding-frames as they succeeded Waratthanun Sukritthanes and Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan as champions.
Both unranked on the Tour coming into the tournament, Kamani and Ramachandran exhibited both skill and determinaton as they overcame established players on the World Women’s Snooker Tour including world champion Mink Nutcharut, 12-time world champion Reanne Evans and current world number four Rebecca Kenna to lift the title.
In the final it was India who claimed the opening two frames against Evans and Kenna to earn the early advantage, before the English duo claimed the doubles frames and subsequently drew level at 2-2.
The following two frames were again shared with a telling snooker from Evans enough to earn the opportunity for Kenna to pot blue and pink and force what would prove to be a nail-biting deciding frame.
With Kenna up against Kamani in the decisive battle, it was Kamani who would gain the upper hand for Team India, only for a valiant effort from Kenna to chase – and in many cases lay – successful snookers, meaning that the outcome remained in doubt until the final moments.
Ultimately, it was Kamani who would pot the final balls required to earn what was to prove an emotional victory for the India as the pair revealed after the match.
“It feels amazing because I started playing snooker back in 2011 and this is my first world title,” said Kamani. “It feels like magic and all the hard work that I have done has paid off today and this is just the start. I just want to keep winning every world title, that is what I look up to, but for now I am super happy and proud because I have made my nation India proud.
“I think the biggest thrill for a sportsperson is the tricolour, the national flag going high and the national anthem in the background, I think that is the biggest thrill that we play for in India and I have made my nation proud by winning this world title. It feels amazing, I can’t even express it in words, but I think it is a prestigious world title for my country.”
Teammate Ramachandran added: “I am really happy because this has been my first tournament with World Women’s Snooker and the first couple of days I was finding it really hard to adjust to the tables, it was like a completely new environment for me but I just wanted to enjoy what I was doing on the table and not thinking too much about whether I win or lose. I was going shot by shot and that really helped. I have no words!”
Kamani also revealed that the feat was to be even more remarkable as the pair only decided to enter the team event shortly before the entry deadline, looking to gain valuable match practice ahead of the start of the upcoming World Championship at the same venue.
“I think it’s an irony that we decided to pair up at the last moment. Just before we booked our tickets, she [Ramachandran] called me and said let’s play!
“We do not play on XingPai tables, this is our first time and I think we have done amazingly well. Beating Thailand and England one by one makes it more important for us and special to win because we have beaten the top players of the world and then reached the number one place.”
The snooker continues in Thailand with the staging of the World Women’s Snooker Championship, which begins on Tuesday and will run until Saturday 4 March.
The winner of the tournament will earn a guaranteed two-year World Snooker Tour card, if they do not already hold one from the start of next season.
Follow more information via WPBSA SnookerScores or read our detailed tournament preview online.
