The Hindu : A stunning display by Ding

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 10, 2002

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

A stunning display by Ding

KOLKATA APRIL 9. A Chinese tornado hit the city as Junhui Ding raised a storm on the top table with a stunning display of flawless snooker to demolish Amin Mohammad Amin Fikree of the UAE by four frames to nil in a group G league match of the fourth Asian under-21 snooker championship here at the Calcutta Swimming Club on Tuesday.

Following his 4-0 drubbing of Bangladesh's Mehadi Hassan in the first match on Monday, Ding was more menacing and severe against Fikree. Mixing aggression and accuracy, the Chinese — who is here after winning the senior National crown in his country at the age of 15 — - displayed a precocious command over the game in emerging as the firm favourite for the present title.

With breaks of 88, 49, 92 and 103 in the four respective frames, Ding made Fikree sit almost all the while and look as dismayed as the motley gathering that had packed the hall to see the former create a record of sorts.

Fikree scored seven and 24 four in the first two frames and sat out the next two frames without scoring a point as Ding accomplished a solo performance. Having terminated formal schooling just to flourish in the game, the youngster from Guangzhou province in China gave ample evidence to suggest a champion in the making.

Ding's un-seeded compatriot Pengfei Tian was not as devastating but won his match 4-1 with a quiet show of precision against fifth seeded Tomy Boon Chin Ang of Singapore in a group E match. Both Ding and Ang progressed to the knockout pre-quarterfinals, which will be played on Wednesday.

The two Indian stars — top seeded Manan Chandra and Pankaj Advani — were perhaps less impressive as compared to Ding, but won through nonetheless. Manan Chandra, yet to drop a frame and one of the pre-tournament favourites, cruised past Mohammad Nasdrul Khaq Zakaria of Brunei 4-0 in a group A match, but lacked the awesome power of the Chinese player.

Pankaj Advani actually struggled to beat Ali Mohammad Ali Bufaroosha of Kuwait 4-2 in a group C match. Chandra maintained an errorless performance percentage — matched only by Ding and Pramual Janthat of Thailand both of who finished the league showing without dropping any frame — and maintained his status among the toppers to enter the last-16 stage. Advani also made it to the pre-quarterfinals as the group topper.

The other Indian entry, local boy Sourav Kothari went down rather tamely 0-4 against Thailand's Ruttanon Kematat — the second seed who had suffered a shock defeat on the opening day. India's Mudit Poddar had exited on Monday losing both his matches. The other Thai entry Janthat won against Brunei's Abdul Aziz Othaman 4-0 as the day saw the conclusion of the league stage.

The results: Group A: Manan Chandra (Ind) bt Mohammad Nasdrul Khaq Zakaria (Bru) 4-0 (81-1, 77-26, 63-1, 64-14); Group B: Ruttanon Kematat (Thai) bt Sourav Kothari (Ind) 4-0 (72-65, 52-43, 64-43, 64-21; Group C: Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Ali J. Bufaroosha (UAE) 4-2 (54-40, 46-49, 49-44, 73-12, 45-70, 59-48); Group D: Sean Z.A. Ang (Sing) bt Keem Ho Moh (Mal) 4-0 (51-40, 48-16, 83-13, 58-51); Group E: Pengfei Tian (Chn) bt Tommy Boon Chin Ang (Sing) 4-1 (62-16, 28-64, 66-5, 47-39, 64-40); Pengfei Tian (Chn) bt Do-Hoo Kim (Kor) 4-0 (75-13, 97-7, 59-22, 70-15); Group F: Pramual Janthat (Thai) bt Abdul Aziz Othman (Bru) 4-0 (82-13, 60-22, 63-29, 65-18); Group G: Junhui Ding (Chn) bt Amin Mohammad Amin Fikree (UAE) 4-0 (88-7, 68-24, 130-0, 118-0); A.M. Amin Fikree (UAE) bt Mehedi Hasan (Ban) 4-0 (64-16, 74-33, 55-27, 59-16); Group H: Mun Kit Thean (Mal) bt Mubarak Al-Owasis (Kuw) 4-1 (50-56, 57-49, 78-30, 54-27, 67-52); Mubarak Al-Owasis (Kuw) bt Mudit Poddar (Ind) 4-2 (48-60, 60-28, 61-58, 47-54, 82-0, 54-12).