Lucky Vatnani (born 23 December 1985) is an Indian former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player. He is from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, but was based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

during his snooker career.

Career

Vantani, a graduate from

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

in Business Administration, showed promise in his amateur career, with a 6–5 loss to Pankaj Advani in 2010 Indian Championship, as well as a run to the last 16 of the

IBSF World Snooker Championship The IBSF World Snooker Championship (also known as the World Amateur Snooker Championship) is the premier non-professional snooker tournament in the world. The event series is sanctioned by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation. A nu ...

in 2009 and winning the gold medal in the British University Snooker Championships during the same year. In 2011, he won a place on the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

for the 2011–12 season. However, he missed several events due to visa issues and would struggle and only won two matches, both in the qualifying stages of the Welsh Open and with three consecutive defeats to

Adam Duffy Adam Duffy (born 30 March 1989) is an English professional snooker player. Duffy qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the third and final Q School event. Career Debut season As a new player o ...

in the first round of the World Open, China Open and

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...

ensured he was unable to reach the top 64 and therefore dropped of the tour at the end of the season. Vantani competed as an amateur in the preliminary rounds of the

2013 World Snooker Championship The 2013 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2013 Betfair World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2013 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 37th consec ...

, but lost 5–3 to

Paul Wykes Paul Wykes (born 15 April 1971) is an English former professional snooker player from Bournemouth, Dorset. He spent 16 years on the circuit and remained in the world's top 64 for 13 years. Career Wykes turned professional in 1991 and achieved ...

. He also attempted the regain his place on the tour via the Q School in 2012, 2013 and 2014, but was unsuccessful on each occasion. In May 2018 he entered Q School in a bid to re-enter the professional snooker tour.

Performance and rankings timeline

Amateur Year by Year Performances

*2015 Semi Finalist – Snooker Crown – All India open tournament – Delhi *2015 Quarter Finalist All India Invitational Snooker event – Chennai *2014 Top 16 World Snooker Championship – Bangalore *2013 APBSA Snooker event – Winner *2013 Indian Open pre-qualifying – Delhi – Qualifier *2013 Film Nagar Snooker event – Winner *2013 Simply Snooker Academy event – Winner *2013 All India Bhimavaram Invitational Snooker event – Winner *2012 79th Indian National Snooker Championship – Rank 6 *2011 CCI Invitational Snooker Tournament – Quarter Finalist *2011 Shyam Shroff Memorial – Khar Gymkhana Invitational Snooker Tournament – Quarter Finalist *2010 77th Indian National Snooker Championship – Runner-up *2009 IBSF World Snooker (Men) Championship – Top 16 *2009 76th Indian National Snooker Championship – Top 16 *2009 BUCS Singles Snooker Championship – Gold Medalist *2009 CCI Platinum Jubilee Snooker Championship – Top 16 *2008 75th Indian National Snooker Championship – Top 16 *2008 3rd PCL-Manisha Invitation Snooker Championship – Runner-up *2008 Siri Fort Handicap Snooker Championship – Winner *2007 74th Indian National Snooker Championship – Top 16 *2006 India National Billiards & Snooker (U-21) Ranked 3 *2006 AP State Senior Billiards & Snooker Championship – winner *2006 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion *2005 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion *2004 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion *2003 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion *2002 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion *2001 AP State Snooker (U-21) Champion

References

External links

Profile on worldsnooker.com
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Profile on Pro Snooker Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vatnani, Lucky 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Hyderabad, India Indian snooker players Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University Cue sports players from Telangana