On Sunday, at around 4:30 pm (1:30 pm in India) even as Pankaj Advani was still locked in an intense battle for the 2015 IBSF World Billiards (timed) Championship title with Singapore's veteran Peter Gilchrist, the 100-odd spectators at the gigantic room at Adelaide's Oceania Snooker Academy, which was hosting the event, burst into sudden applause.


IBSF women's World Billiards Championship winner India's Arantxa Sanchis during a stopover in the city yesterday from Adelaide en route her home in Pune. Pic/Nimesh Dave

At an adjacent table, a young 25-year-old Indian girl, Arantxa Sanchis, had just defeated compatriot R Umadevi to clinch the inaugural women's 2015 IBSF World Billiards (timed) Championship. The victory made her the first woman to have won the IBSF World Team Snooker title (2013) and the IBSF World Billiards Championship.