Sport
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Billiards & Snooker
Varsha outclasses Uma Devi
By Kirti Patil
Varsha Majumdar of Maharashtra proudly displays her trophies after winning the title in the 10th National snooker championship in Ahmedabad on Sunday. - Photo: Paras Shah
AHMEDABAD, JAN. 13. Varsha Majmudar achieved an unique distinction of becoming National champion in two diverse sports, snooker and table tennis, when she outclassed Uma Devi R. of Karnataka in the final of the 10th women's snooker National at the Ellisbridge Gymkhana here on Sunday.
A quick-thinker Varsha was on song right from the start. She potted with confidence and made difficult angles possible. Varsha executed her game plan to perfection as won in three straight frames at 55-13, 82-24, 80-21.
Seldom has anyone reached the pinnacle of two unlike sporting disciplines. To that extent, Varsha has achieved the feat. ``To hold National titles in two different games is great. I was quite determined to do it ever since I took up snooker,'' said Varsha.
In 1987 as Varsha Chulani, she had won the National table tennis title beating Niyoti Roy of Bengal in Delhi. Varsha gave up table tennis in 1990 when she got married and migrated to England. Now based in Singapore, she represented Maharashtra at the Nationals.
``I had to take up some indoor sport and I found snooker interesting. Once I got into it seriously, winning the National title was the foremost goal,'' she said. ``The sooner it came the better.''
In her fifth National championship, Varsha was determined not to deny herself. She had come closest to the title in the 2001 Chennai Nationals when she lost in a close five-frame final to Anuja Thakur of Maharashtra.
Varsha erased that blemish with a sound performance here. Up against a tenacious opponent in Uma Devi, Varsha never allowed any visit to the table go waste. She opened up with a break of 15 supplementing her red pots once each with the pink and the black.
With the cue ball at the top of the table, Varsha showed mastery in finding angles to pot red balls from the bunch. She then invariably combined them with the black or pink to fetch maximum points. Varsha scored yet another break of 15 to widen the gap before Uma conceded the first frame with the scores at 55-13.
Varsha raced ahead in the second also. She led 23-12 after two visits to the table. A red pot in the next was wasted when she failed to follow it up with a colour ball. Varsha corrected her mistake on the next visit, when she combined three blues, two blacks and a pink as an amazed Uma sat helplessly. Varsha equalled her own record of highest break scored in the semifinal against Meenal Thakur on Saturday.
Uma, who won the billiards title last week, had so far remained undefeated in the championship in both forms of the game. Now down 0-2, she needed to improve on her potting rather than depend on the away points by snookering the cue ball.
This one aspect of snooker was often being used by the women players. But in an attempt to play safe and win points on the opponent's mistakes, the contests usually get dull.
Diametrically opposite was Varsha's game. She has an uncomplicated style and that makes her matches worth watching. The final was again typically fast-paced.
But for the unsporting interruption by the organisers, between the second and third frames, the final was over inside one and a half hour. To use up the entire time allotted by Doordarshan the organising committee officials, who otherwise have done a good job, conducted a long-drawn interview of the chief guest with the final yet to be completed.
This situation occurred even as everyone expected the summit clash to go to the distance. However, Varsha had made it into a one-sided contest.
The World billiards champion Geet Sethi rightly commented afterwards that to win, a player should be in sync with the table and the ball. And having such a ceremony in between the match was unjustifiable. Any one of the player could have lost the rhythm with which they were performing.
Despite this interruption Varsha stuck to her task and won the final frame, scoring breaks of 16 early on, and then an unfinished break of 18 for 80-21 result.
In the play-off for third place Chitra M. of Karnataka defeated Meenal Thakur 57-21, 50-32.
The results: Women (final): Varsha Majmudar (Mah) bt Uma Devi R. (Kar) 55-13, 81-24, 80-21.
Play-off for third place: Chitra M. (Kar) bt Meenal Thakur (Mah) 57-21, 50-32.
Highest break (billiards): Meenal Thakur 37, Anuja Thakur (Mah) 37. Snooker: Varsha Majmudar 41.
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