Vahedi and Jans clinch IBSF World Snooker Championship

In the men’s final, Vahedi thumps Pagett of Wales 8-1, while Jans routs India’s Kamani for women’s title

Iranian Soheil Vahedi and Wendy Jans of Belgium clinched the 2016 IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championship in style yesterday, cruising to victories at the Al Sadd indoor hall. In the men’s final, Vahedi thumped Andrew Pagett of Wales 8-1 for his maiden World title, while Jans reaffirmed her status as the queen of women’s snooker with her fifth consecutive title, and sixth in total, with a 5-0 rout of India’s Amee Kamani.
After so many nail-biting matches in the 10-day long tournament, the lop-sided nature of the finals yesterday was surprising. Jans was expected to dominate women’s final, with Kamani making her maiden appearance at the world stage. But Vahedi’s total dominance against former main tour professional Pagett came as a shocker. ?Both players were appearing in the final for the first time, but it was the 27-year-old Vahedi, who dictated the game from the word go.
The Iranian took a 3-0 lead, which was capped with a break of 58 in the third frame. But Pagett, who reached the Crucible (one of the biggest venues in professional snooker) in 2011, got on the board courtesy of a 69 in fourth 4. However, Vahedi struck back with runs of 57 and 81 to take the last two frames of the session and stretch his advantage to 5-1.
Time was running out for Pagget and the Welshman started brightly but only to see Vahedi clear the last red with all the colours to go 6-1 up. With Vahedi needing just two more frames in the best-of-15 encounter, the title was within the grasp of Iranian. And he wasted little time in doing so.  
He made breaks of 55 and 63 in the following two frames to clinch the title, becoming the second cueist from Iran to lift the trophy. Hossein Vafaei Ayouri was the first World Champion from Iran when he won in India in 2011.
Vahedi’s victory was the largest winning margin since 1992 and guarantees him a two-year professional tour card. But it remains to be seen whether he will take up the tour card, after last year’s winner Pankaj Advani of India had declined the offer.
For Pagett, who was bidding to become the first Welsh winner since Michael White in 2006 (called IBSF World Grand Prix then), it was a disappointing way to end the championship.
The 34-year-old had trounced Advani 7-2 in the semis and was the favourite to win the title, at least on paper. Pagett, the the first non-Asian player to feature in a final since 2012, was under pressure from the beginning and struggled to play on the table chosen for the final.
“I had struggled in this table during the last-32 match, and it was very slow table, which didn’t suit my style. But Soheil is a worthy champion. He hits the ball lot harder than me, which benefited him today,” said Pagett.
“I have been on a professional tour not long ago. I have beaten the best and lost to the worst. I was probably one of the favourites to win title. So I am happy having made it to the final of the world championship,” the Welshman added.
For the women’s champion Jans, it wasn’t a stroll in the park against Kamani, but she wasn’t stretched either by the Indian rookie, who making her maiden appearance in the final.
The 33-year-old Jans was playing in her tenth world championship final yesterday. The Belgian won her first title in 2006, and then added to her collection of world titles in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. She was the beaten finalist in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008.
Needless to say, Jans has dominated the sport for long. Her record also includes winning the European title 10 times and the Belgian national championship 14 times.
Kamani did put up a fight in the first two frames, but Jans saw through the difficult period and took a 2-0. Her experience and guile proved valuable as she raised her game by few notches, to record scores of 33 and two 32s and clinch yet another title.
Jans was pleased after winning her sixth world title, but wasn’t too happy with the way she won it. “I have been playing for a long time, more than 20 years now, since I was a little girl. Maybe it’s because of the experience I have I won here. But honestly, I didn’t play well my best at all, it was good enough though in the end,” Jan said.  
“I am really happy that I defended my title, but little bit disappointed with my game. But as long as it’s good enough, a win is a win,” she added. Jans, who runs a snooker club in Belgium while also working in a full-time job, is not yet ready to relinquish her title as queen of snooker.
“I see that lot of girls are coming up, especially the girls from Asia, from Thailand and China. They are getting better and I am getting older as well (laughs). I know a lot of girls here and they look up to me because I have been dominating for so long. Maybe that’s one of those reasons I have been doing well,” she said.
 “I always want to win, so every win makes me happy. It’s not the same feeling like when I won the first World title, because it’s something special. But still to retain my title every year, it feels nice,” Jans added.
Meanwhile, Dharminder Lilly of India won the Masters title defeating Elfed Evans 6-2 of Wales in the final.