National champion Laxman Rawat stunned South Africa’s world No. 7 Jason Theron to enter the knockout stage of the Heyball World Championships in Pune. Varshaa Sanjeev also advanced, while several other Indian players bowed out after tough battles
Published Date – 14 August 2026, 08:28 PM
Hyderabad: National champion Laxman Rawat stunned world No. 7 Jason Theron of South Africa in the final men’s losers’ bracket match to advance to the knockout pre-quarterfinals of the $400,000 Apex Sports 3rd Heyball World Championships at the Rajan Khinvasara Billiards and Snooker Academy, housed in the Jairaj Sports & Convention Centre in Pune, on Friday.
The 34-year-old jumped to a quick 3-0 lead against his rival with a gritty display. After suffering some mid-match blues, Rawat, who allowed his rival to take the lead at one stage, levelled the score at 5-5 before clinching the next two racks in fine fashion.
Varshaa Sanjeev was the only other Indian to make the second stage of the richest cue sports tournament in the country. The Bengalurean, returning to the circuit after a three-year hiatus, scored a comfortable 5-2 win over Mongolia’s Ganbat Gan-Orkhon in the women’s section.
The rest of the Indians in the fray failed to get past the first stage. However, Shruthi L had world No. 5 Narantuya Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia at her mercy at 5-3, but went down 5-6 in a thriller in the final qualifying match.
Last year’s bronze medallist Amee Kamani and Keerthana Pandian in the women’s section, alongside Paras Gupta and Pushpender Singh in the men’s section, also managed to reach the final round of the losers’ bracket.
Whelan survives scare
Earlier, second-seeded Jack Whelan of Britain overcame a tough challenge from Julian Serradilla of Switzerland on Friday to advance to the knockout pre-quarterfinals.
Coming off a splendid triumph at the Champion of Champions last month in Malaysia, Whelan lacked his usual fluidity on the day. The error-prone Englishman gave plenty of chances to his rival, who made the most of them to put the favourite in trouble.
It was neck-and-neck in the race-to-7 third-round match. Serradilla, who had defeated his rival in a thriller in China a couple of months ago, levelled the score 3-3 with a lucky black pot off the side cushion.
After the early skirmishes, Whelan found a semblance of his touch by taking the scrappy seventh rack and then cleared the table following his rival’s poor safety to take a 5-3 lead. However, his opponent made a brilliant break and run to reduce the margin.
Whelan responded in the same manner in the next rack, only for Serradilla to fight back in the 11th to keep the contest alive. But with the clock ticking, the Swiss player succumbed to time pressure, missing the last ball into the top-left pocket before walking across to congratulate Whelan.
There were no such hiccups for the fancied women players. Reigning champion Kelly Fisher outplayed Amy Elizabeth Beauchamp 6-2 to make the last-16 round. Second-seeded Wendy Jans scored a similar victory over Australia’s Jessica Woods.
Select results (Indians unless mentioned)
Men
Round 3:
Tobias Bongers (Ger) bt Mohammad Ali Pordel (Irn) 5-4; Joao Grilo (Por) bt Miquel Silva (Por) 6-6 (shootout); Jack Whelan (GBR) bt Julian Serradilla (Sui) 6-5; Jordan Shepherd (GBR) bt Mohd Reza Bin Hassan (Mas) 6-5; Yip Kin Ling (Tpe) bt Jason Theron (RSA) 7-6.
Losers’ bracket — Round 4:
Laxman Rawat bt Theron 7-5; Pordel bt Paras Gupta 7-1; Mohammed Nooh (Egy) bt Pushpender Singh 7-2.
Round 2:
Lee Stephens (GBR) bt Pankaj Advani 6-5; Gareth Potts (GBR) bt Kamal Chawla 7-3; Nkandu bt Sean Davis 7-3; Ivan Rudenko (Ukr) bt Brijesh Damani 5-5 (shootout); O’Donoghue (Ire) bt Shivam Arora 7-3; Richard Mushobe (Zim) bt Himanshu Jain 6-4; Temuujin Enkhbold (Mgl) bt Divya Sharma 7-3.
Women
Round 3:
Kelly Fisher (GBR) bt Amy Elizabeth Beauchamp (GBR) 6-2; Elzette Koen (RSA) 5-1; Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Jessica Woods (Aus) 6-2; Waratthanun Sukritthanes (Thai) bt Mary Talbot (GBR) 6-0; Sara Rocha (Por) bt Narantuya Bayarsaikhan (Mgl) 6-2.
Losers’ bracket — Round 4:
Varshaa Sanjeev bt Ganbat Gan-Orkhon (Mgl) 5-2; Daria Siranchuk (Ukr) bt Keerthana Pandian 5-4; Narantuya Bayarsaikhon (Mgl) bt Shruthi L 6-5; Mary Talbot (BR) bt Amee Kamani 6-4.
Round 3:
Diana Khodjaeva (Bel) bt Neena Praveen 6-0; Illse Rossouw Nicola (RSA) bt Vidya Pillai 4-3.
Round 2:
Pennipa bt Gianna Rego 6-0; Keerthana bt Anupama Ramachandan 5-4.
