Manan Chandra triumphs

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, MARCH 10. Delhi's Manan Chandra capped his irresistible run in the inaugural National Pool championship with a superb title triumph. Manan besides bagging the winner's trophy, was richer by Rs. 15,000.

At the KSBA Hall here today, the 20-year-old Manan Chandra dished out a Houdini act in the semifinals against K. Ranjan of Tamil Nadu at 10-7 before pulling the rug off Mukesh Rehani in an all Delhi final. Manan won 11-9. Rehani had to content with Rs. 10,000.

Manan with a clean slate in the league phase looked a winner. And when Sunil Sharma of Karnataka was swept aside in the round of 32, many enthusiasts would have pitch forked on the talents of the junior National snooker champion from Delhi. Manan did not disappoint.

Manan, true to pool standards, is an aggressive bet. And when his potting and positioning stands him good there is no better exponent of the craft.

``There is pool culture in Delhi and we have grown from that,'' said the unassuming Manan. A former semi-finalist in the World under-21 snooker championship, Manan was the odds on favourite.

The 39-year-old Mukesh Rehani a billiards exponent, with a World ranking of 21, did well against Md. Asim of West Bengal in the semifinals. But the senior pro, in an attempt to unsettle the youngster did try once too much and came a cropper.

Level at 4-4, Manan Chandra was virtually gifted with the ninth `rack' as Rehani failed with the combination. But Rehani was quick to hit back (5-5). Rehani however fouled to give Manan the advantage yet again at 6-5. But Manan fouled with the cue ball to spurt the advantage.

Manan with a start to finish effort wrapped the 13th rack and again gave nothing to chance in tie next to go 8-6 up. But Mukesh was not finished. A splendid clearing, bringing all his billiards experience to the fore, Rehani did bridge the deficit down twice but that was as far as Rehani could get.

Manan came back strongly for a start to finish clearance to go 10-9 up and then came off with a incredible combination, which clicked to leave Mukesh `rooted' to his place. Manan remained unbeaten in the championship for a 11-9 verdict.

For the third place, Mohd. Asim of West Bengal ended the run of K. Ranjan with a 8-4 margin.

K. Ranjan, the Tamil Nadu ace looked like ending Manan's run in the semifinals. A 3-0 lead looked adequate the way Ranjan started off. But Manan was not finished. The Delhi youngster had other ideas as he pulled off four racks on the trot to go 5-4 up after being 1-4 down.

Ranjan at this stage tended to lapse in concentration which Manan was quick to capitalise on. A missed `combination' which won a sigh from the goodly spectator response by Ranjan did enable Manan go 9-7 up, which otherwise would have been 8-8 all. And this had the final say on the bearing of the match, as Manan left nothing to chance thereafter to win handsomely at 10-7.

Mukesh too won his semifinals against Md. Asim quite comfortably, winning 10-5, after being tied 3-3 at one stage.

Asim and Ranjan were presented with Rs. 5000 each for their efforts.

The results: Final (Best of 21 racks): Manan Chandra (Del) bt Mukesh Rehani (Del) 11-9. For third place (best of 15 racks): Md. Asim (WB) bt K. Ranjan (TN) 8-4. Semifinals (best of 19 racks): Manan Chandra bt K.Ranjan 10-7; Mukesh Rehani bt Md. Asim 10-5.

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