CHENNAI: India's RT Mohitha lost to Thailand's Narucha Phoemphul in the semifinals of the IBSF World Under-21 Women's Snooker Championship in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The Tamil Nadu player shared the bronze medal with Hong Kong's Chan Wai Lam. Bengaluru teenager Natasha Chethan held her nerve to edge out Narucha in the final and emerged as the champion.
For Mohitha, this bronze is extra special. After a harrowing accident last year, the 20-year-old cueist from Madurai made a remarkable comeback to bag her "most prized possession."
"This victory has been the biggest in my career so far. Unfortunately, last year I met with an accident where I suffered a compression fracture in my spine, which made it very difficult for me to even stand or sit for some time. The recovery was long and painful. I put in the hard yards. Even though I wasn't fully recovered, I started training for the tournaments. My coach, Abinav, has been very patient with me, and he has put in so much effort for my training," Mohitha told TOI.
The journey to the bronze was a mountainous task for Mohitha, who was still on her road to recovery. "Getting to play an international match in our home country is something special, but it wasn't an easy win. I had a tough group, which consisted of a Chinese, an Iranian, and an Indian player. I beat them to qualify for the quarterfinals. Despite losing the semifinals, I'm still very happy with bronze," she said.
Mohitha, who has many national titles in her kitty, is currently pursuing aeronautical engineering at KCG College of Technology. It was cue sports that helped her secure a scholarship at the college. Hailing from a family of hockey players, Mohitha dabbled in table tennis before falling in love with snooker.
Mohitha had a long list of people whom she wanted to thank. "I would like to thank the Tamil Nadu Billiards and Snooker Association for their support and the efforts they made to get me recognized. I would like to thank my college, KCG College of Technology, which has provided me a lot of support and sponsored my trips for international events. The role of my college is very important, as they have made things easier for me," Mohitha said.
