Sport - Billiards & Snooker   

Sethi likely to skip Nationals

By Kirti Patil

JAMMU DEC. 17. Overlooking the Trikuta ranges of Himalayan topography, the Hari Niwas Palace _ home of the erstwhile King of the land _ is set to be an abode to the cue and ball players. The playing arena, the Royal Retreat Hall, according the organisers, is one of the best venues in recent times. The Nationals get underway here on Wednesday with the traditional opening through ladies billiards championship. Six titles will be decided over a month-long period, the championship ending with the men's billiards on January 15.

Defending billiards champion, R. Umadevi of Karnataka leads the women's field. But, retaining the title would be challenging as Maharashtra's Anuja Thakur, the 2000 champion, looks to be in top form. Anuja, who was humbled in the Ahmedabad Nationals by Uma, is here after dominating performances in the Bombay Gymkhana and the CCI events.

The State is hosting the championships for the second time after the 1989 Srinagar Nationals. Notwithstanding the elaborate arrangements, both on the organisational and the security front, a peripheral campaign by some of the top cueists had almost threatened to demean the 69th senior Nationals. Things came to such a pass that senior players openly lobbied explaining `volatile situation in Jammu', but the BSFI stuck to its stand and went ahead with the plan. Slowly, many of the most vehement opponents fell in line.

A few big names nonetheless would remain absentees. In all probability, former World billiards champion Geet Sethi would skip the championship. Though his name figures in the draw, the BSFI Chief Referee C. Kapur was busy making an alternate arrangement to balance Group D, which features Sethi. Maharashtra's Yasin Merchant is another international whose participation is in doubt, in the senior snooker event.Defending champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways is the big draw. Shandilya is in top form and proving his sceptics otherwise. He won the World billiards championship in 50-point up format last month in Sydney. Devendra Joshi of Maharashtra, after flirting long with the quit-Jammu idea, should be here.

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