World and National billiards champion R. Umadevi Nagaraj has a very simple yet bold suggestion to women on International Women’s Day.
“I always have one belief and approach to everything, be it in my life, sports or anything aspect. Be brave and face all problems and overcome them. In our times, nothing comes on a platter. The more you are successful, the more people are envious and create problems.
They erect all kinds of obstacles. But it is in overcoming them, we reveal our character. We must not be worried about them, but face them and rise above them,” said Umadevi.
“Women have a lot of talent and they have the patience. I must say a lot more than men. But we shy away when there are problems. If we try and face them, it will be far more easier to solve them. That’s always my approach,” Uma added.
“I think, we rarely if ever celebrate Women’s Day, specially women in sports fields. I think we must come together and have a meeting of minds. Problems can be put forth and solutions sought. I will try and see how much I can help to bring women in sports on a single platform in future,” said Uma, who at 48, won the National billiards title for the fourth time in her inspirational career.
An Officer in the Horticulture Department of the Government of Karnataka, Uma has groomed her game on the green baize to such a level that she has the ability to simply sweep aside players of all age and ‘hue’. And not surprisingly, her approach is to surmount obstacles rather than run away from them.
For Uma, it all started way back in 1995. She was in fact a table tennis player too and was a regular at the Karnataka Government Secretariat Club. But she was introduced to billiards there and she in more ways than one, took the cue. And to great heights too.
Women’s National billiards title winner in Ahmedabad (2002), Indore (2008) and Chennai (2011), Uma bounced back to bag her fourth one this month at Gwalior.
The packed gymnasium hall of the Jiwaji University, Gwalior, watched in awe as Uma defeated Keerath Bhandaal, a fresh and bubbling youngster from Delhi 3-1 at 70-75, 76-57, 77-44, 77-62. Keerath took an early lead winning the first game.
But Uma got into her top form and potted without blemish with the hushed silence only being broken by the spontaneous applause now and then for her superb shots.
Uma kept scoring and compiling useful breaks and her opponent could do precious little to stop Uma as she won the next three games on the trot and bagged her fourth national title.
Umadevi defeated Arantxa Sanchis (Maharashtra) 2-0 in semi-finals, state mate and long-time rival Chitra Magimairaj 2-0 in quarter- finals and Priyanka Gupta (Chandigarh) 2-0 in pre-quarter finals.
Thus, Uma proved beyond any shadow of doubt that she would brook no opposition.
She had lost in the semi-final last year when Arantxa had won the title. But a year before that in 2011, Uma downed defending champion Meenal Thakur of Maharashtra 77-45 76-61 75-34 in the final.
That speaks volumes of her physical and mental strengths to perform and outshine players from every corner of the country without bringing the age factor into consideration.
In fact, Uma had been a regular participant in the World championships in China (2003), Netherlands (2004) and Syria (2011).
But last year, Uma finally cracked the code so to say when she defeated Emma Bonney of Portsmouth 201-143 to be crowned as the new world champion at the Cambridge Snooker Centre.So Uma now holds the National and World titles simultaneously, a phenomenal achievement indeed. Indeed, she is a role model for any young aspirant. She surely deserves a pat on IW Day.