Despite two women from Odisha making it to the National finals five times, billiards and snooker continues to be a male-dominated sport in the State. For more than a decade hardly any female cueists have participated in the domestic competitions of the State, let alone appearing in the National championships.

But the long wait for a new female cueist ended today when Shubhangi Rao took part in the Green Baize Classic All Odisha Open Snooker Championship at Vintage Club in Bhubaneswar. It is a different matter that the 17-year-old local girl lost in the first round. But she achieved a inspiring feat by reviving the participation of Odisha women in the green-baize sports.

It may be noted that Amrita Mohapatra was the first female cueist of Odisha who finished Senior National billiards runner-up twice in 1998 and 1999. Priyanka Agarwal was the other Odisha female cueist, who finished junior girls National Billiards runner-up twice (2008, 2009) and sub-junior runner-up once (2008).

The Green Baize Classic All Odisha Open Snooker Championship, which commenced today, is a 15-red snooker event with 57 competitors in the fray. Renowned international cueist Asutosh Padhy is the star of the week-long tournament. He has the reputation of winning as many as seven National sub-junior and junior titles till date. Asutosh also happens to one of the few cueist of the country who has beaten the multi-time world champion Pankaj Advani in a Senior National Snooker Championship.

The Green Baize Classic tournament carries a total prize fund of Rs 50,000, including Rs 15,000 for the champion. This a new venture by Vintage Club, which has been organising cuesports tournaments regularly with the aim to create new players, provide practice facilities and help them compete in State and National Championships.

Besides Padhy, leading Odisha cueists Subrat Das, Kunal Agarwal, Siddharth Sen, Rakesh Roshan Pradhan, Nishant Biswal and Chirag Arora are competing the tournament, which is being supported by Suto Café, Bluetech Products, PSR Foods, ToyNados, Essential Tradex and Hotel Destination.
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PHOTO: Young female cueist Shubhangi Rao in action at the Green Baize Classic All Odisha Open Snooker Championship in Bhubaneswar on 18 August 2024.