Dhruv Sitwala shocks Devendra Joshi

By Geet Sethi

CHRISTCHURCH, SEPT. 16 Dhruv Sitwala, the 28-year old from Mumbai was responsible for the first upset of the Rockpool IBSF World billiards championship when he clinched a nerve wracking 1269- 1201 victory over Devendra Joshi, the current Indian National champion. All other Indians cruised to victory with yours truly compiling a 471, the highest break of the tournament.

For Sitwala, this victory, narrow as it may be, means a lot. It means that he will qualify from his group as the no.1 which will help him in getting seeded in the top 6 for the knock out stage of the event. The victory also signifies a coming of age for the affable cueist, who has been working tirelessly in pursuit of excellence these last two years. And most importantly, it will provide him with the confidence in his own ability, which somehow only comes with that first big win.

Sitwala has matured, faster than one would have thought. One sees in him, a gutsy fighter, a hard working and disciplined player, who can hold the Indian flag aloft in international competition. To defeat your country's national champion is reason enough to celebrate. To defeat the concerned person in a world championship just makes the victory so much sweeter. And given the fact that Joshi was playing at his best, proof of which was provided by the string of century breaks including a four hundred which he had compiled in an earlier game, Sitwala will savour even more the wonderful aroma of his praiseworthy win tonight.

When Joshi commenced the match with efforts of 236 and 204 in the first hour to lead by three hundred points, it looked like he would cruise to a fluent win. However, Joshi paid the price of relaxing. And with Sitwala relentlessly accumulating points, Joshi found his back against the wall in the second two- hour session. Playing on the adjoining table, I could sense the urgency and the tension being experienced by both Sitwala and his more experienced opponent.

However, while Sitwala exhibited an unusual adventurism towards the last half an hour when he led by 180 points, Joshi's arm seemed to have developed some heaviness. To be fair, Joshi fought back towards the end, but went out of position with about four minutes still left on the clock and trailing by only 50 points. Had he continued, he could have just won by a few, but the day clearly belonged to Sitwala. A glorious win for a player who seems committed to make a profession out of this sport. His consistency in negotiating breaks of 107, 105, 109, 125 and 130 helped him in carving his best victory yet.

I had the satisfaction of compiling the highest break of the tournament, a quick paced 471 which eclipsed Ashok Shandilya's 464. Four other centuries and two double hundreds ensured a comfortable 2020-827 victory over Australia's Joe Millen. It's been a while since I recorded a 400+ break and it's the round robin format, which has been instrumental in helping me to rediscover my big break building capabilities. Having already compiled four triple centuries and half a dozen double hundreds, I feel I am slowly but surely reaching close to my best form.

Shandilya scored yet another fluent victory over Australia's Frank Humphries and despite his highest break being only 250, the national runner-up impressed with a match average of 47.8. Match averages are the best indicators of how well a player has really performed and with Nalin Patel also averaging 47.8 in his 1578- 856 victory over Australia's Neil Croft, the Indian brigade has made a big impact here in Christchurch.

The other two realistic contenders for the title, Australia's Mathew Bolton and Malta's Paul Mifsud easily accounted for their opponents and with only one more league contest to go look certain to qualify as the no.1 from their respective groups.

Another Indian who has caught everyone's attention is the fiery Alok Kumar. The determined bespectacled Punjabi notched up a 309, which helped him in scoring a crushing 2493-377 win over Keith Taylor from New Zealand. Kumar is a great fighter but his exposure to top class billiards in particular to big breaks has been limited. With this triple century he has joined an exclusive club and one cannot discount his capability to be a serious contender for the title.

The results:Mathew Bolton 1702 (193, 168, 125, 148) bt Peter De Groot 733; Paul Mifsud 1888 (252, 293, 104, 124) bt Paul Stocker 703; Nalin Patel 1578 ( 242, 126, 104, 192, 166, 113, 115, 206) bt Neil Croft 856 (319); Dhruv Sitwala 1269 (107, 105, 109, 125, 130) bt Devendra Joshi 1201 (236, 204, 104); Geet Sethi 2020 (156, 208, 471, 108, 119, 132) bt Joe Millen 827; Ashok Shandilya 1960 (250, 153, 165, 189, 134, 103) bt Frank Humphries 759; Manoj Kothari 1636 (129) bt Tony Stephens 707 Arun Agrawal 1282 (134, 112) bt Brian Moulday 668 ; B. Bhaskar 1379 (233, 267, 182) bt Derek Gibb 709; Joe Minichi 1052 bt Joe Ifa 854; Peri Lilii 993 bt Rex Swain 773; Alok Kumar 2493 (173, 114, 229, 309) bt Keith Taylor 377.

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