Thursday, May 23, 2002
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Billiards & Snooker
By Geet Sethi
In all probability the outcome of that contest will be in favour of Gilchrist, who had ended a one sided first session with a 677-257 advantage. At the time of filing this piece, Gilchrist has stretched his lead to 600 points with an hour left to play. It is after a gap of three years that I find myself in the semifinals of the world professional championship. Having been eliminated in the quarterfinals last year by the tactical brilliance of Australia's Robby Foldvari and having lost to Arun Agrawal in 1999, it is with great relief and joy that I find myself in the concluding stages in competitive billiards' blue riband event. With a well structured build up to the Asian Games later in September being put in place in India, the exposure has provided me much needed practise over the last several months. And from the opening match against Ashok Shandilya, the Indian national champion and world No. 9, my touch at the top of the table and ability to execute difficult recovery strokes when out of position, helped me in displaying a much-required consistency in my break building. Sheehan himself had reached the last eight with the aid of a surprising though well-deserved 17-point victory over Chris Shutt, a former open champion and currently ranked 5. On Tuesday morning, the foundations of my victory were laid thanks to an early 171 break. Sheehan had chances on Wednesday as both of us struggled on a table, which had been stripped down overnight and a new cloth put as a result of some complaints regarding the level of the table. However, the world No. 10, who reduced his arrears to 933-827 by fashioning back to back breaks of 107 and 148, failed to capitalize on the advantage towards the last 45 minutes of the four-hour match. Despite struggling to retain position at the top, I managed to construct a break of 152 and at the crucial stages occupied the table with runs of 73 and 48 to deny Sheehan his first semifinal appearance in a ranking tournament. The victory is significant, as it will boost my world ranking which has slumped from No.1 in 1996 to No. 4 at the start of the current season. Thursday's semifinals will be played over two sessions, the first commencing at 1 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m. Mike Russell was in ominous form once again as he ended the opening two hours of his quarterfinal match against India's Manoj Kothari with a massive 1001-point lead. Kothari finds himself in the last eight stages of the world professional championship for the first time since joining the pro tour thanks to a narrow 30-point victory against unknown Sushrut Pandya in a qualifying match and a walkover from Roxton Chapman. Chapman has recently joined the Royal Air Force and is not permitted to participate in professional sport. With a guaranteed Pound 2000 in his kitty, the bespectacled former world amateur champion came in from London just a few hours before he was scheduled to play Russell late on Tuesday evening. Kothari's predicament can be gauged first by the paltry accumulation of only 174 points and secondly from his high break of 25. In stark contrast was the authoritative Russell, who has occupied the top slot in the world rankings for the last seven successive years. Assertive and aggressive in his approach and immaculately precise in his control, the four times world champion gave proof of his greatness with a glittering array of breaks. Runs of 98 and 97 at his third and fifth visits were prematurely terminated when he missed red pots into the top pocket while trying to negotiate a baulk line crossing - mandatory between 80-99 points. However, he then compiled the first of his four three figure breaks with a 162 on his ninth visit and then followed this with efforts of 100, 285 and 149 to end the first session 1175-174 in front. Kothari has absolutely no chance of any kind of recovery against an opponent as sharp, determined and focused as Russell. However, the Indian must bring back some dignity and pride of performance by constructing a break of at 50+ when they resume later tonight at 7 p.m. The bubbly and effervescent cueist David Causier enjoys a 555-324 advantage over Australia's Robby Foldvari at the end of their first session. There cannot be two more contrasting cueists on the circuit. While Causier has `adventure' and `speed' written all over him, Foldvari has the ability to make a cynic of the most optimistic person on the planet. Both managed solitary three figure breaks each but given his slow pace, Foldvari is at a distinct disadvantage as he comes later this evening for the final session of the match. The results: quarterfinals (four hours): Geet Sethi 1091 (171, 152, 73) bt Peter Sheehan 911 (140, 107, 148, 82).
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