International billiards and snooker player Anupama Ramachandran brought laurels to the country by winning the IBSF World Women’s Snooker Championship in November 2025 held in Doha, Qatar and holds the distinction of becoming the first Indian woman to win the title. Her resilience and unwavering focus helped her to break the glass ceiling in a male dominated sport.

This young lass was born in Mylapore, Chennai to Ramachandran from the real estate field and Gayathri, a Chartered Accountant. Anupama who is the only child of her parents schooled at Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School in Mylapore and later at MOP Vaishnav College where she acquired her BBA and M.Com degrees. Currently pursuing a Masters degree M.A. in Public Policy at the same institution, she manages both studies and snooker with aplomb.
She says, “Every year, I used to attend summer camps in different sports like badminton, skating etc. In 2015, my interest in snooker was ignited when I attended a summer camp in snooker held at Mylapore Club where my father is a member.”

What started off as curiosity made her get so enamoured with the game that she decided to pursue it with all her heart and soul. Her first training ground was the Mylapore Club. Later she moved on to the Madras Cricket Club where she received coaching from international snooker player S.A. Saleem. Since 2023, she has been training abroad under the dynamic tutelage of Nigel Bond, a former professional snooker player from the U.K.

Her first success came in January 2017 when she won the national title in the Sub-Junior Snooker (under- 18) Championship. In the same year, she won the gold medal at the IBSF World Open (under-16) Championship held in Russia. Her medal kitty comprises five gold medals, five silvers and five bronzes at the global level and 11 gold medals, 11 silvers and seven bronze medals at the national level.

Besides this, she is the reigning National Women’s Billiards Champion after clinching gold at the National Championships held in Haryana in January 2026.

Her achievements in billiards and snooker earned her a World of Women (WoW) Award presented by the Hindu newspaper group to exceptional women achievers across various fields. The Award includes a trophy and a specially worded citation.

Anupama credits her family and friends for all their support. Earlier her dad was her travel companion and used to accompany her to tournaments held across the country and globe. Nowadays, she mostly travels by herself but at times he goes along. Both her school and college encouraged her along the way and were very supportive too. Though she misses classes to practice and travel for tournaments, she manages to catch up with her studies before the exams.

Anupama adds, “I am extremely happy to become the first Indian woman to win the Championship. For me, its not just a personal milestone but a very special milestone for women in the game.’’
The State government as well as the Sports Authority of India have pitched in with support for her travel and coaching.

Most of her time is spent in either practice or travelling for tournaments. When she does manage to get some free moments, she likes listening to music and watching series on Netflix.

Black is her favourite colour and she loves crispy and lacy dosas. The International Billiards and Snooker Federation organise the World Championship on a yearly basis in a different country each year. She says, “I practice anywhere around 5 to 6 hours everyday. Few days before the tournament, I reduce the practice time a little to adapt to match play.’’

Anupama has carved a niche for herself in a previously foreign dominated sport with her technical precision and fortitude and her victory in the IBSF World Women’s Snooker Championship in 2025 is seen as a turning point for women’s snooker in the country.