Amee Kamani
Born (1992-06-03) 3 June 1992
Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Sport country India

Amee Kamani (born 3 June 1992) is an Indian snooker player. She was runner-up in the 2016 International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Snooker championship, losing 0–5 in the final to the defending champion Wendy Jans. Kamani was the 2018 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Ladies (ACBS Asian Snooker Championship) Champion after defeating Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan 3–0 in the final, and was runner-up at the 2014 Australian Open (0–3 to Jessica Woods) and the 2019 International Billiards and Snooker Federation Women's six-reds snooker championship (2–4 against Nutcharut Wongharuthai).

After a sporting focus on table tennis for ten years until she was 17, Kamani then took up cue sports competitively. She has won three Indian national titles at snooker and two at English billiards, and was a member of the victorious Asia women's team at the 2019 World Team Trophy, a test event for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Amee Kamani was born on 3 June 1992 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.[1][2] Her main sporting focus was on table tennis from the ages of 7 to 17. However, she lost interest in that sport in 2010 due to feeling that she was not being supported despite her successes, and might never become a top player. She played pool recreationally, and her friends suggested that she try other cue sports. She took up snooker, practicing at the Madhya Pradesh Snooker, Billiards Academy in Indore in 2011.[3][4]

Playing career

At her first national tournament,[5] Kamani lost 0–2 to Varsha Sanjeev in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Indian girls' championship.[6] In 2013, she took third place at the Indian women's six-reds championship by defeating R. Umadevi 3–0 in the playoff.[7] The following year she was a losing semi-finalist, 1–3 to Vidya Pillai, in the women's national snooker championship, and won the third-place playoff by defeating Neeta Sanghvi 2–0.[8] She told Daily News and Analysis that she had been practicing for five hours a day, but wanted to maintain a balance between snooker and her studies.[5]

With Pillai partnering her, Kamani was a semi-finalist at the 2014 International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) Team Snooker Championships.[9] At the 2014 Australian Open, held in Sydney, Kamini won all of her five matches in the qualifying round, four of them 2–0 and the other 2–1. She then beat Suniti Damani 3–0 in the quarter-final,[10] and Jennifer Budd 4–0 in the semi-final. In the final, Kamani lost the first three frames to Jessica Woods, then won the next two frames before Woods took the sixth frame to complete a 4–2 victory.[11] Kamani won the Indian national snooker title in 2015, with a 4–2 defeat of Pillai in the final.[12] At the 2015 IBSF Six-Reds Snooker Championship, Kamani topped her qualifying group.[13] in the knockout phase, she beat Floriza Andal 4–1 but then lost 1–4 to Ng On-yee in the semi-final.[14]

2015 also saw Kamani reach the semi-final of the 2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship. She topped her qualifying group, winning all four matches without losing a frame, including a victory over Wendy Jans, who had won the title in the three previous years and would go on to win the tournament again. In the knockout, Kamani eliminated Amy Claire King 4–0 and Chitra Magimairaj 4–3 before losing 3–4 to Anastasia Nechaeva after leading 3–1.[15][16]

She reached the semi-final of the 2015 ISBF six-red snooker tournament, held in Karachi, and won the first frame against Ng On-yee, but then scored only 31 points whilst losing the next four frames and the match.[17] Kamani started 2016 by winning the Indian National six-red Snooker Championship with a 4–1 victory over Pillai in the final.[18] In the national snooker Championships the following month, the same two players met in the final, but this time Pillai won, 4–2, to take the title from Kamani.[19] She reached the semi-finals of the 2016 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Ladies' 6 reds Snooker Championships, after defeating reigning world champion Ng On-yee 4–2 in the group stage.[20][21]

In November 2016, Kamani reached the final of the 2016 IBSF World Snooker Championship, where she faced Wendy Jans, with Jans looking to win her fifth consecutive world title. Kamani lost both of the first two frames on the black ball, and Jans went on to complete a 5–0 victory.[22][23] Kamani lost in the semi-finals of the IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championship.[24] She won the Indian National six-red snooker championship in Mumbai the following month, and followed this with victories in the 2017 national billiards championship and national snooker championship, to hold all three titles at the same time.[25] In the billiards tournament she beat Varsha Sanjeev in the final,[26] and in the snooker final won 4–2 over Arantxa Sanchis.[25]

She was part of the "Hyderabad Hustlers" team in Cue Slam, a 2017 series of events featuring players including players participating included Kelly Fisher, Vidya Pillai, Laura Evans, Anastasia Nechaeva, Darren Morgan and Pankaj Advani in five teams playing a series of snooker and nine-ball pool matches, but her team failed to progress beyond the group stage.[27][28] Later that year, she was a 2017 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Snooker Championships Ladies semi-finalist.[29]

At the 2018 national championships, Kamani was trailing 1–3 in the final to Varsha Sanjeev, but then took three consecutive frames to win 4–3.[30] Kamani won the 2018 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Ladies Championship organised by the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports. She topped the table for qualifying,[31] then in the knockout competition defeated Aye Mi Aung 3–0 and Ka Kai Wan 3–1, then winning 3–0 against Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan.[32] At the 2018 IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championships, she reached the semi-finals;[33] in the main Snooker Championships she reached the same stage.[34][35]

Kamani was selected as part of "Women's Team Asia" which won at the World Team Trophy event in Paris in March 2019. This was a demonstration event to promote the inclusion of cue sports at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, featuring simultaneous play of three games, snooker, carom and pool, in the same hall.[36] She was runner-up to Nutcharut Wongharuthai in the 2019 IBSF World Women's 6 Reds Championship, losing 2–4 in the final.[37] Kamani was runner-up in the 2020 Indian snooker championship, reaching the final with wins over Sanchis (30) and Sanjeev (3–1), then losing the final 2–3 to Pillai.[38] She regained the national billiards title in 2020 by winning 3–1 (in games of 75-up) against Keerath Bhandaal.[39]

Career finals

Individual snooker finals
Outcome Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 2014 Australian Open  Jessica Woods (AUS) 2–4 [11]
Winner 2015 Indian Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 4–2 [12]
Winner 2016 Indian six-reds Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 4–1 [18]
Runner-up 2016 Indian Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 2–4 [19]
Runner-up 2016 IBSF World Snooker Championship  Wendy Jans (BEL) 0–5 [23]
Winner 2016 Indian six-reds Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 4–1 [18]
Winner 2017 Indian Championship  Arantxa Sanchis (IND) 4–2 [25]
Winner 2017 World Women's Snooker Championship Challenge Cup  Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) 4–2 [40]
Winner 2017 Indian six-reds Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 4–2 [41]
Winner 2018 Indian Championship  Varsha Sanjeev (IND) 4–3 [30]
Winner 2018 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Ladies Championship  Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan (THA) 3–0 [32]
Runner-up 2019 IBSF Women's 6 Reds Championship  Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) 2–4 [37]
Runner-up 2020 Indian Championship  Vidya Pillai (IND) 2–3 [38]
Winner 2021 Indian Championship  Anupama Ramchandran (IND) 3–1 [42]
Winner 2022 Indian Championship  Keerthana Pandian (IND) 3–0 [43]
Individual English billiards finals
Outcome Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 2017 Indian Championship  Varsha Sanjeev (IND) 3–2 (75-up) [26]
Winner 2020 Indian Championship  Keerath Bhandaala (IND) 3–1 (75-up) [44][39]
Runner-up 2021 Indian Championship  Varsha Sanjeev (IND) 1–3 (75-up) [45]
Winner 2022 Indian Championship  R Umadevi Nagaraj (IND) 3–0 (75-up) [46]
Team finals and titles
Outcome Year Championship Team/partner Opponent(s) in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 2016 IBSF Team Snooker Championships (women's)  India 1 (with Vidya Pillai)  Hong Kong 1 (Ng On-yee and Ka Kai Wan) 3–4 [47]
Winner 2019 World Team Trophy Women's Team Asia (with  Kim Ga-young (KOR) and  Pheavy Sruong (CAM) Women's Team Europe ( Jasmin Ouschan (AUT),  Gülşen Degener (TUR) and  Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS)) Round-robin [36][48]
Winner 2023 Women's Snooker World Cup  India 1 (with Anupama Ramachandran)  England 1 (Reanne Evans and Rebecca Kenna) 4–3 [49]

References

  1. ↑ "Amee Kamani". cuesportsindia.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Shafi, Faisal (8 August 2021). "6 Top Indian Female Snooker Players who Made a Mark". DESIblitz. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Swaminathan, Swaroop (23 June 2015). "changing Vocation to Find Success on the Green Baize". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  4. ↑ Vivek, Vishal (23 August 2017). "National women's billiards champion Amee Kamani says change of vocation paying off". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  5. 1 2 Das, Kalyan (29 March 2014). "Meet Indore's only women snooker player". Daily News & Analysis. Mumbai.
  6. ↑ "Lahari, Ashuthosh win titles". Delhi. The Press Trust of India. 23 July 2011.
  7. ↑ "Vidya, Varun emerge snooker champs". New Delhi. Indo Asian News Service. 25 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Snooker: Advani, Pillai annex titles". New Delhi. Indo Asian News Service. 7 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Women – Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2014". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Feberation. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "Vidya, Amee in last four". The Hindu. 5 October 2014. p. 14.
  11. 1 2 "Kamani Loses to Woods in Final". Hindustan Times. Mumbai. 6 October 2014. p. 15.
  12. 1 2 "Advani captures senior national title". The Asian Age. 26 January 2015. p. 35.
  13. ↑ "IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championships Women – Karachi / Pakistan 2015 (qualifying)". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championships Women – Karachi / Pakistan 2015". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "IBSF Snooker Championship Women → Hurghada – Egypt 2015". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "IBSF Snooker Championships Women – Hurghada / Egypt 2015". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "IBSF 6 reds Snooker Championship Women. Karachi – Pakistan 2015". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  18. 1 2 3 "Chawla, Kamani emerge champs". The Free Press Journal. 7 January 2016. p. 17 – via PressReader. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  19. 1 2 "Lucky is state's best". Deccan Chronicle. 2 February 2016. p. 39.
  20. ↑ "1st Asian Billiards Sports Championships 6 reds Ladies → Al Fujairah – UAE 2016". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "Amee Kamani upsets Ng On Yee". The Hindu. Chennai. 29 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Vijfde wereldtitel op rij voor Breese Wendy Jans". Het Belang van Limburg. 30 November 2016. p. S1 – via PressReader. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  23. 1 2 Pathak, Vivek. "Wendy Jans wins her consecutive 5th World title". ibsf.info. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  24. ↑ "IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championships Women – Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2016". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  25. 1 2 3 Viswanath, G (3 February 2017). "Advani and Amee complete rare triple". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  26. 1 2 Viswanath, G (31 January 2017). "Amee clinches billiards title". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "CueSlam". cuseslam.in. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  28. ↑ "New league launched, 25 players picked in draft". The Asian Age. 26 July 2017. p. 20 – via PressReader. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  29. ↑ "Knockout". esnooker.pl. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  30. 1 2 Achal, Ashwin (28 January 2018). "Talwar and Amee are champions". Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "ACBS Snooker Championships Ladies – Yangon / Myanmar 2018". acbs.qa. Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  32. 1 2 "Knockout". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  33. ↑ "IBSF 6 reds Women Snooker Championships Women – Marsa Alam / Egypt 2018". ibsf.info. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  34. ↑ "IBSF Snooker Championships Women – Yangon / Myanmar 2018". ibsf.info. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  35. ↑ Warrier, Sajith (20 November 2018). "India's Amee Kamani clinches bronze in IBSF World Snooker Championship". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  36. 1 2 "Asia's ladies and Europe's men dominate first World Team Trophy". billiards2024.paris. Billiards 2024 Paris. 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  37. 1 2 Pathak, Vivek (21 September 2019). "Nutcharat wins her maiden World Women title". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  38. 1 2 Stead, Marcus (March 2020). "Tournament Winners". Snooker Scene. Snooker Scene Ltd. p. 37.
  39. 1 2 Stead, Marcus (March 2020). "Billiards Tournament Winners". Snooker Scene. Snooker Scene Ltd. p. 40.
  40. ↑ "Stage Set For Singapore Finale – WPBSA". Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  41. ↑ "Amee Kamani wins National title". Free Press Journal. Mumbai. 25 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via ProQuest.
  42. ↑ Francis, Laveena (15 December 2021). "Amee Kamani wins senior national snooker championship". Times of India. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  43. ↑ "Amee pockets snooker title". Times of India. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  44. ↑ "Amee wins Ladies Billiards title". Pune Mirror. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  45. ↑ "Varshaa wins billiards title". Times of India. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  46. ↑ "Amee overcomes Umadevi for title". Times of India. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  47. ↑ "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Women – Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2016". ibsf.info. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  48. ↑ "World Team Trophy" (PDF). World Confederation of Billiards Sports. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  49. ↑ "Incredible India Are World Cup Winners". World Women´s Snooker. 27 February 2023. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
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