Nine-year-old NRI girl Tanvee Vallem has been invited to participate in the World Women’s 9-Ball Championship, making her the youngest person to get an invite for the pool tournament, according to a media release.
The 2023 Kamui World Women’s 9-Ball Championship is slated to be held in Atlantic City from January 19 to 22 after a four-year hiatus.
Nicknamed the 'Lilac Tiger', Tanvee achieved a similar feat when she participated in the World Junior 9 Ball Championship held in Puerto Rico in November 2022.
Tanvee who was born in Hyderabad and now lives in Maryland in the US with her parents is coached by Roy Pastor, who is the lead instructor for Break and Run Junior Instruction Program, a free online programme by Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) focused primarily on juniors.
Last week, Tanvee also secured a sponsorship contract with Predator Group, the industry leader in innovative pool billiards products.
The 64-player event will have a total prize fund of $148,000 with $30,000 to be awarded to the winning player.
Great Britain’s Kelly Fisher will be defending champion after she won the title for the second time in 2019, when the tournament was staged in Sanya, China.
Two-time World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association World Champion; 49-year-old Chitra Magimairaj from Bangalore, India is also set to compete in this event.
The Women's WPA 9 Ball World Championship tournament which is an invite-only championship was kicked off in 1990, but it got shelved due to the pandemic and is currently returning after a four-year hiatus.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (R) welcomes Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as he arrives for the opening of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on November 22, 2025. (Photo by Halden KROG / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
