Shruthi L

Shruthi L (born 2007) is an Indian player of English billiards, snooker and pool. She won the World Women's Billiards Championship in 2024 and retained the title in 2025, and was subsequently ranked world number one on the World Billiards women's ranking list.

Based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Shruthi took up cue sports in 2021 and has since won national junior titles in billiards, snooker and nine-ball pool, as well as the 2025 English Open Challenge Cup. She has also competed at senior level in Heyball, reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Indian national championship.

Early life Shruthi L was born 2007 in Tamil Nadu, India. She began playing cue sports in January 2021 after playing on a pool table while visiting her uncle in Bengaluru. She joined Buddys Chennai Billiards Academy in March 2021 and began training under coach Abinava Krishna. By 2023, she was training at the academy four days a week as well as practising at home.

She won the Indian girls' Sub-junior National Billiards Championship in 2022, defeating Saanvi Shah 112–106 in a one-hour match. Shruthi took the lead, but fell behind before securing victory in the final minute of the contest.

The following year, she won the Indian Junior Girls' National Billiards Championship, defeating Aanya Patel with a score of 179–93 in the final. Shruthi commented afterwards, "It feels special to win at home. I’m grateful for all the support from my parents, coach and the Tamil Nadu billiards and snooker community." In an interview that month, she said, "If you look at billiards as a game, it's very creative. There are three modes of scoring. And there isn't any particular pattern as to how you have to play; you can be as creative as you want. I like that a lot." She later credited this with motivating her as well as financially allowing her to play overseas. In her semi-final match, she eliminated three-time finalist Eva Palmius 276–148. In the final, she faced Bhandaal again, and won 215–202 to take the title. After the match, she posted "Thanks to my coach Abinav of #Buddys for making this happen."

In November 2024, she competed in the World Junior Heyball Championship. After defeating Cedar Gauthier 6–0 in the group stage, she lost 3–6 to Natasha Chetan in the quarter-finals.

She won the 2025 English Open Challenge Cup, for players who did not reach the knockout stages of the English Open, winning the final by a single point against Adam Clarke after having eliminated world number 11 Terry Azor in the first round.

She retained the women's world championship in 2025. She won all three of her matches in her qualifying group, against Eva Palmius, Michelle Cohen and Annette Newman, and made four half-century break including a 56, which was the highest of the competition. The final was closely contested for the first hour, before Shruthi pulled away in the closing half-hour to secure the win. Following the championship, World Billiards ranked Shruthi first on its 2025–26 women's world ranking list with 3,750 ranking points, ahead of Lynch and Bhandaal.

In January 2026 she finished third at the national billiards championship, losing 146–160 to Amee Kamani but then defeating R. Umadevi 152–140 in the bronze medal playoff. She won her first Indian junior girls' national snooker title, defeating Aanya Patel 3–0 in the final. Two months later, she won the Indian junior girls' nine-ball championship on her debut in the event. She defeated defending champion Natasha Chethan 6–4 in the final.

At the Indian Heyball National Championships in July 2026, Shruthi finished third in the women's event. She defeated Neena Praveen 6–4 in the quarter-final, lost 5–2 to eventual champion Natasha Chethan in the semi-final and defeated Vidya Pillai 5–0 in the third-place playoff.

Achievements English Billiards

Snooker +Indian national finals contested by Shruthi LOutcomeYearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRunner-up 2024–25 Sub-Junior Snooker Championshipunknown Runner-up 2024–25 Junior Snooker Championshipunknown

Pool +Indian national finals contested by Shruthi LOutcomeYearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreWinner 2026 Indian Junior Girls' Nine-ball Championship 6–4