Manalo triumphs

MUMBAI, JULY 16. Marlon Manalo of the Philippines prevailed over Noppadon Sangnil of Thailand 8-6 in the best-of-15-frames final to win the Asian snooker championship at Hong Kong on Saturday.

Manalo, who finished runner-up in 1997, subdued his Thai rival after a marathon, nine-hour battle which was devoid of sparkle to lift the title for the first time, according to information received here.

In the final, which was held in two sessions, the Filipino jumped to a 5-2 lead after four and a half hours of play when the match was halted by the referee.

Four plus-30 breaks, including the highest of 35, helped Manalo take the lead while Thai number two Sangnil had a best effort of 48, which was also the highest of the title-clash, to show for during this session. The Thai cueist came back strongly at the start of the second session by clinching the first two frames contested after the break to narrow his rival's lead to 5-4 but allowed Manalo to steal the tenth with a run of 32.

Sangnil took the 11th to narrow the lead before Manalo took the next with a break of 42. The latter then gifted away the 13th attempting a wild shot. Manalo then clinched the 14th and the title, after trailing 41-48, by sinking the last three colours after his opponent flunked a safety shot to leave him a good opening.

Earlier, in the semi-finals, Manalo beat Malaysia's Ng Ann Seng, the conqueror of Indian number two Rupesh Shah in the quarter- finals, while Sangnil stopped Pakistan's former world amateur runner-up Saleh Mohammad.

- PTI.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Kramnik takes over at the top
Next     : Mihail Marin wins title