Good show by Kothari & Bhaskar

By Geet Sethi

CHRISTCHURCH, SEPT. 15 On a day when the top six seeds were given a rest day, India's Manoj Kothari and B. Bhaskar provided the entertainment at the Hornby Club here in Christchurch, venue for the 2001 Rockpool IBSF World billiards championship. While Kothari overwhelmed Peter De Groot, the National New Zealand champion 1724-788, Bhaskar staved off Australian Neil Croft's challenge to win 1458-1029.

Kothari, the 1990 world amateur champion almost did not make it to Christchurch. Inflicted with a severe shin injury in Calcutta, he refused his doctors advise of not travelling to Christchurch. ``At Singapore airport the pain was unbearable and I almost decided to go back home'' he had confessed as we landed in Christchurch. However, the joy of representing the country and sheer will power helped him in succumbing to the thoughts of returning from Singapore when the pain became so acute.

Having rested the first two days and with the wound healing properly, Kothari's form has improved with every match. He had exhibited some amount of tentativeness in his opening match, which was completely justifiable considering the lack of practise because of the injury. However one saw him play with a lot more application in his second match and today he seemed to have discovered his natural rhythm. Kothari is one of the more seasoned cueists in the Indian contingent. His readiness to experiment with technique, specifically his stance has been instrumental in confusing him, which in turn has hampered him in achieving his true potential.

His performance today therefore seems to suggest that he may have sorted out the internal turmoil about his stance. Breaks of 108, 200, 135 and 112 provide substantial proof of his return to form and the speed and rhythm with which he played clearly indicated how well he was sighting the balls.

B. Bhaskar continued his good showing with yet another victory over a tough Australian competitor Neil Croft. The Aussies are fiercely competitive opponents and they fight till the end. But the Bangalore based cueist ensured his victory with well-compiled efforts of 120, 143, 287, 121 & 137. To pull off a string of three figure breaks requires concentration, unyielding belief in your own ability and inherent ability. Clearly Bhaskar has all three ingredients though he needs to show an appetite for bigger breaks if he has to reach the next stage in his billiards career.

Arun Agrawal, smarting with the six-point defeat against New Zealand's Wayne Carey clinched a hard fought 1009-808 victory over New Zealand's Paul Stocker. Agrawal has been shaken up by that narrow reversal and the pressure of qualifying seems to be taking its toll on him. Unable to score a three-figure break, the 42 year old seems demoralised after the narrow defeat on Thursday. In the past, 1999 in particular, he effected a superb victory over yours truly in a quarterfinal encounter of the world professional billiards championship. However, he has been unable to repeat that kind of form since and only a monumental effort from him could help in overcoming Malta's Paul Mifsud, the top seed in that group. If he fails to defeat Mifsud and if Wayne Carey wins all his other matches, Agrawal will be unable to qualify for the knock out stage of the event.

Dhruv Sitwala and Vishal Madan, the two youngsters from Mumbai both won their respective encounters against Joe Minichi and Gus Templeton, with Sitwala recording breaks of 187 & 118. Sitwala has been notching up regular 400+ breaks in practise and given his zest, dedication and positive approach to the game, it should not be long before he matures into a truly world class performer. Madan, still only 19 is soaking in the atmosphere of a world championship, but clearly, he is committed to make a career of the game.

The results: Manoj Kothari 1724 (108, 200, 135, 112) bt Peter De Groot 788; Joe Millen 1493 (115) bt Rex Swain 502; Dhruv Sitwala 1358 (187, 118) bt Joe Minichi 831; Arun Agrawal 1009 bt Paul Stocker 808; Alok Kumar 1368 (110, 211, 176) bt Frank Humphries 866; B. Bhaskar 1458 (120, 143, 287, 121, 137) bt Neil Croft 1029 (112, 128, 120); Vishal Madan 1071 bt Gus Templeton 887; Eric Worsely 916 bt Merv Stewart 881; John Hartley 934 bt Ray Habgood 701; Wayne Carey 1091 bt John McKay 561; Gary Oliver 1104 bt Malcolm Cooke 762; Tim Walters 1473 bt Ron Milicich 548 .

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