Vidya delights the Indians
India's ladies star Vidya Pillai will be number one seed for the knock out stages of the IBSF World Ladies Championship in Hyderabad.
Vidya Pillai topped Group C of the Ladies event, with five wins out of five. She only dropped two frames throughout and her frame average of 2.60 beat all the ladies from the other groups.
Pillai has also been kept very busy off the table. When she was not being pursued by multiple Indian media for interview and photographs, she has been assisting with the commentary of the live coverage on Indian sports channels.
Pillai has posted four solid breaks in the thirties on the Ladies' Break Board, but it is Hong Kong's Ng On Yee who tops the board at the moment with an excellent run of 77.
China's Bi Zhuqing has made breaks of 65 and 52.
Following Pillai in the seedings will be Hong Kong's Yu Ching Ching who also won all her matches for the loss of three frames.
New Zealand's Ramona Belmont won Group D with five wins and a frame average of 2.20, losing four frames and Group A was headed by Hong Kong's Jaique Ip who lost one match but beat Thailand's Santhinee Jaisuekul into second place, winning their head to head match.
However there was drama in that match when Jaisuekul was taken ill at the table with the score at 2-2. She had to concede the match and was taken to hospital for some precautionary checks.
I'm glad to report she has now been released and will be well enough to take her place in the knock out draw.
Also unlucky was Bahrain's lady player, Nahla Sunni. She is the first lady to represent Bahrain in international competition. She also fell ill and had to forfeit her last match.
IBSF President Pascal Guillaume has also been under the weather. The doctor
confirmed that it was likely he was suffering from side effects caused by anti-malaria tablets. You take your choice whether you want the side effects of medication or the bites.
Several people have proved to be particularly tasty to the local insects and are
smothered in bites, while other has escaped unharmed.
The draw for the Ladies and Masters knock out stages will be made later tonight
and should be available around midnight local time.
The Ladies tournament is wide open this year but after the Groups it could be a straight clash between Indian and Hong Kong for the title, although the Thai girls and New Zeland's Ramona Belmont are a considerable threat.
Defending Champion Reanne Evans from England, was unable to get funding to travel to India to defend her title. Also missing are players such as Belgium's Wendy Jans and other strong players from Europe who have not made the trip this year due to other commitments.
