The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : KSBA felicitates Chitra Magimairaj

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Sunday, Apr 09, 2006

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

KSBA felicitates Chitra Magimairaj

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: It was a memorable homecoming for the newly crowned World ladies' billiards champion, Chitra Magimairaj, who was felicitated by the Karnataka State Billiards Association here on Saturday.

M.C. Uthappa, KSBA secretary, who spoke on behalf of the association, said that it was a great feat by Chitra, who had taken up the game nine years ago.

He praised her dedication and hard work and on behalf of KSBA, he thanked Rizwan of the Prestige Group, which sponsored Chitra's trip to Cambridge for the championship.

KSBA also announced a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 for Chitra, which was handed over to her by K. Govindraj, president of the Karnataka Olympic Association.

Govindraj said he would sponsor Chitra's airfare for all the World championships that she intends to play in the future .

Arvind Savur, one time mentor of Chitra, spoke of her penchant for hard work and offered to spare some time for her before she goes again for any international event.

It may be recalled that it was Savur who encouraged Chitra to take up cue sports after she had suffered a collarbone fracture about a decade ago, which forced her to give up hockey.

SWAB honour

The Sports Writers Association of Bangalore (SWAB) also used the opportunity to honour Chitra and presented her with a cheque for Rs. 5,000.

The 32-year-old Chitra, who dedicated her triumph to her parents and brother, said she owed a special thanks to KSBA and all it's members for encouraging her. She also singled out Savur for his early help and Pankaj and Raj Mohan of Chennai who gave her the much needed practice.

Commenting on her triumph, she said the turning point was her victory over defending champion Anuja Thakur in the quarterfinals. "I won a tight contest against her (180-173) after losing to her in the snooker pre-quarterfinals earlier. That put me in the right frame of mind for the rest of the matches and gave me hope that I could pull it off."

Tough final

Chitra said the final too was tough as her rival, Emma Bonney of England, was a former World champion. "I kept building small, but consistent breaks and my effort on the last visit, which saw me record a break of 38 put me on the road to victory."

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