R. Umadevi Nagaraj Biography 
R. Umadevi Nagaraj is professional billiard player from Karnataka. Her full name is Revanna Umadevi Nagaraj. She is a winner of several international billiard championships including World Women's Billiard championship in 2012, defeating World No 13 Eva Palmius in the finals. She is a three-time national champion too. She was awarded Eklavaya Award in 2009 for her contribution to Billiards by the Government of Karnataka. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's national honours conferred on individual women for their exceptional achievement. She was one among the top 30 women achievers who got this award in 2017, on the occasion of International Women's Day.
She was born in Karnataka on 11 February 1965. She is a typist-turned billiard professional, who pursued her dreams a little late, in her 40s, but succeeded. Hers is a colourful story – from a shy typist to billiard world champion, it’s indeed nothing short of fiction. After completing her SSLC she studied type writing, which was quite common in the 1970s and 1980s, before the computer era came in. Umadevi started working as a typist for the horticulture department in 1989 at Lalbagh in Bangalore. She enjoyed playing Table Tennis and used to visit KGS Club to play the game.
In 1995, a dramatic turning point happened in her life when club’s secretary Krishna Kumar took her to the billiards room and thrust a cue in her hands. She started to play the game out of curiosity but got hooked to it. Very soon she realized that she was destined to play billiards. She started practicing after office hours, worked hard and with full dedication, she managed to reach at position three on the state snooker ranking. This was a great boost to her morale and the rest is history.
The horticulture department transferred Umadevi to Cubbon Park, so that she can fulfill her sports dream easily. She was a shy girl then, who couldn’t communicate properly. Aravind Savur became her mentor at the KGS Club. She also received training from Jairaj. She also received strong support from her family to pursue her dreams.
Published: September 16, 2018
Updated: September 16, 2018
