Joshi takes day's honours

By Geet Sethi

CHRISTCHURCH, SEPT. 20. Two 400+ breaks and a 540. The standard of play at the Rockpool IBSF World billiards championship reached a new level as the field was reduced from 16 to eight players. And the hero of the first day of the knockout stage of the event was Devendra Joshi.

In compiling that magnificent 540 in direct response to Nalin Patel's 401 Joshi not only recorded the highest break of the event (bettering Geet Sethi's 495) but also made sure that he shrugged off the demons of self-doubt, which had prevented him from qualifying as the No.1 of his group. The national champion had surprisingly lost to Dhruv Sitwala and Australia's Joe Minichi in his last two league games raising justifiable doubts about his ability to respond to pressure. Today he responded with a strange combination of ferocity and calmness in scoring a praiseworthy 1931-983 victory over Patel.

The match itself was a heavyweight battle of wits with Joshi winning the opening and closing rounds. Patel, after yielding to the early pressure applied by Joshi trailed 990-293 at the end of the first two-hour session. However a timely effort of 401 enabled him to erase his deficit to only 300 points.

But Joshi with a calmness which was in sharp contrast to his edginess exhibited in the matches against Sitwala and Minichi uncorked that 540 which clinched the issue in his favour. With this kind of lethal form from Joshi, a 463 break by Sitwala, consistent scoring from Shandilya, Alok Kumar and Mathew Bolton and the experience of Paul Mifsud and yours truly, there seems no clear favourite for the title anymore.

Sitwala was equally impressive in his 1829-555 victory over Australia's Joe Millen. The bespectacled 28-year old, who started playing only eight years ago gives Indian billiards great hope. At a time when one was looking for the next successor to the tradition started by Wilson Jones, Sitwala has appeared.

He possesses all the ingredients required for the making of a world- class player. In registering the 463 break, Sitwala has given compelling evidence of a new found maturity and more importantly of his ability to deliver when the stakes are raised. He now plays Paul Mifsud in the quarterfinal, a match in which he almost certainly will be a slight favourite considering his recent display. The veteran Maltese had effected a comfortable 1687-757 victory over Vishal Madan.

Ashok Shandilya played fluently, his game marked by an ominous consistency. His opponent was Frank Humphries, a fairly solid cueist who was made to look pedestrian by the twice world amateur runner-up. Shandilya impressed with runs of 145, 264, 112, 204, 117 & 296.

B. Bhaskar edged out Manoj Kothari, the 1990 world amateur champion in a one-sided contest. While Bhaskar played with great application and care, Kothari once again fell victim to his own self-inflicted confusion about his technique. Their final scores were 1762-827 in Bhaskar's favour, with the athletic Asian Games bronze medallist recording breaks of 93, 124, 136 & 189 in successive visits in the second session.

Nineteen-year old Mathew Bolton proceeded into the last eight with a 1785-791 victory over Arun Agrawal. The Aussie now runs into Joshi in the quarterfinals.

I easily won my match against New Zealand's Paul Stocker 1649- 816. Unhindered by an opponent who failed to capitalise on many unforced errors committed by me, I won thanks to breaks of 117, 125, 123 and 246.

The quarterfinal line-up: Geet Sethi vs Alok Kumar; Mathew Bolton vs Devendra Joshi; Paul Mifsud vs Dhruv Sitwala; Ashok Shandilya vs Bhaskar.

The results: Mathew Bolton 1785 (176, 113, 329, 120, 230, 109, 110) bt Arun Agrawal 791; Bhaskar 1762 (244, 157, 124, 136, 189) bt Manoj Kothari 827; Alok Kumar 1547 (318, 128, 273, 126, 103) bt Joe Minichi 1003 (175); Dhruv Sitwala 1829 (212, 141, 463, 107, 170, 144, 190) bt Joe Millen 555; Ashok Shandilya 1708 (145, 264, 112, 204, 117, 296) bt Frank Humphries 732 (158); Geet Sethi 1649 (117, 125, 123, 246) bt Paul Stocker 816; Devendra Joshi 1931 (171, 233, 118, 165, 116, 540) bt Nalin Patel 983 (401); Paul Mifsud 1687 (184, 126, 143, 109, 122, 180, 103, 103) bt Vishal Madan 757 (108).

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