The Hindu : Joshi and Sethi in sterling form

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 20, 2002

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Joshi and Sethi in sterling form
By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, MARCH 19. Geet Sethi, the seven times World champion, looked in ominous form. The reigning champion, despite the fact that the Asian billiards championship is being revived after 16 long years, showcased his talent in the 3-0 annihilation of Indonesian Muslim in a pool-A league encounter at the Karnataka State Billiards Association McDowell Hall here on Tuesday.

There was no insurance cover as far as Muslim went. The Indonesian, for all his worth, did meander to breaks of 45 and 55 in the first and third frames, respectively, but that was all that he was allowed to.

Geet with his precision efficiency potted at will to keep his rival in his corner. If the 76 in his fifth visit in the first frame was any indication to come, what followed-the 89 in the second frame (second visit) and an unfinished 84 in the third were compiled with touch that only Geet is capable off. The three-frame win took the master only 47 odd minutes.

``The 100-point format should not bother anyone at this stage, maybe in the knock-out phase,'' said the suave Sethi after his match.

Devendra Joshi too was in his element. The Bharat Petroleum Officer made short stint of his outing against the talented Dhruv Sitwala, who sure seemed totally out of touch and temperament.

The 29-year-old Maharashtra player had no clue as to what had struck him as the stocky Joshi simply outclassed his younger opponent with some awesome potting. Joshi took lesser time than Geet to finish off his opponent.

Advani beats Shandilya

Another Indian who continued his winning ways was young Pankaj Advani. If in his own words he was not fluent on the opening day, today too the touch seemed to have deserted the youngster when it mattered most. And in the process the 16-year-old almost frittered away the early 1-0 lead.

The India No. 1, Ashok Shandilya, was in an obliging mood. The burly Shandilya, despite converting his chances in the second and third frames, made mistakes galore in the first and fourth frames which was all that the talented Bangalore lad needed to wrap up the match at 3-2. Pankaj won 101-26, 95-100, 5- 102, 100-7, 100-9 with telling breaks of 47, 51, 40, 62 and 36.

Alok Kumar, the National runner-up, recorded his second win in Group B with a fluent 102-20, 100-33, 11-31 demolition of Singapore's Theik Chong Alan Puan, who literally had no place to hide from the Punjab cueist's domination.

The results: group A: Mangkhon K (Tha) bt Ronnie Chua Poh Teck (Sin) 3-0 (101-53, 100-43, 102-89); Boteju (SL) bt U Aung San Co (Myan) 3-1 (101-44, 28-100, 102-21, 101-97); Geet Sethi (ind) bt Muslim (Indo) 3-0 (101-22, 101-59, 100-65); Devendra Joshi (Ind) bt Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) 3-0 ( 100-8, 101-26, 104-3.

Group B: Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt U Win Myint (Myan) 3-1 (100-62, 102-63, 15-100, 100-30); U Kyaw oo (Myan) bt Glen Yeo teck Shin (Sing) 3-0 (101-19, 102-52, 100-0; Uden Khaumukh (Thai) bt Theick Chong Alan Puan (Sing) 3-0 (102-3, 100-85, 102-8); Pankaj Advani bt Ashok Shandilya (Ind) 3-2 (101- 26, 95-100, 5-102, 100-7, 101-9); Alok Kumar (Ind) bt Theick Chong Alan Puan 3-0 (102-20, 100-33, 100-31); U Kyaw Oo (bt U Win Myint 3-1 (100-28, 81-100, 100-82, 100-75).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport