Date:28/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/28/stories/2005012812101800.htm

Sport

Safety tactics, order of the day

By G. Viswanath

MUMBAI, JAN. 27. The time arrived for men dressed in bow-tie and jacket to be infuriated with themselves for a variety of reasons, most considerably for not being in good nick and on occasions with the billiards buffs whose whispers appeared to explode into their ears. Ruthless safety tactics, an off-putting part of colourful game, was also often seen as the national snooker championship neared one short of the title round at the Goregaon Sports Club on Thursday.

Generally the quarterfinalists, including everybody's darling, Pankaj Advani, found their opponents tough nuts to crack. The top seed Advani was cagey and not inclined to take risks against Patna's Niraj Kumar, but scored a 5-1 victory that doesn't convey the fierce determination the Bihari showed during the one hour fifty minutes match.

Five years ago a teenaged Kumar beat the fledgling Advani in the second round of the junior event in Delhi. Kumar did not look out of sorts in the quarterfinals. He looked street smart, having honed his skills at the Bakhipur Club in Patna where the billiard cloth has not been changed for six years. He threw away a chance to square off in the fourth frame and let Advani sink the colours with fine and soft shots.

Kumar not disappointed

The underdog spirit in Kumar surfaced again in the sixth frame as he tried to fix his opponent on snooker, but sadly failed and lost to a former world amateur champion. "I never get a chance to practise on top class tables. It's always the case of controlling the ball on old tables. Players like me will have the confidence only if we play on quality tables,'' said a not-so-disappointed Kumar who did not let Advani make the big breaks. His best was 44 in the second.

Maharashtra's Aditya Mehta and Yasin Merchant were engaged in a duel that lasted for two hours and 45 minutes, before the tall and young cueist managed to beat the many times winner of the national title. Mehta was a little more consistent and the crowd's favourite too.

Devendra Joshi appeared vulnerable, but showed his dogged spirit and skill to get past a hurdle in Rupesh Shah by five frames to three. Similarly the defending champion Alok Kumar battled it out against Manan Chandra to enter the semifinals, the line-up of which is Advani vs Alok Kumar and Joshi vs Aditya Mehta.

The semifinals will be played on Saturday and the final on Sunday.

The results:

Quarterfinals (best of 9 frames): Pankaj Advani (PSPB-1) bt Niraj Kumar (Rlys) (4-1) 88 (33)-25, 68 (44)-5, 17-78, 59-54, 89 (39)-3, 67-53, Aditya Mehta (Mah) by Yasin Merchant (Mah-2) (5-3) 9-49, 78-74, 125 (54,66)-8, 38-78, 71-30, 51-65, 74 (74)-5,79 (50)-40, Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Rupesh Shah (Guj-3) (5-3) 51-47, 75-29, 22-59, 19-64, 73-64, 83-5, 32-63, 75-10, Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) (5-3) 16-73, 61-43, 51-66, 74-40, 69-42, 11-92 (64), 63-29,66-30.

Pre-quarterfinals: Manan Chandra (PSPB-12) bt Omar Balsara (Mah) 73-30, 64-42, 72-37, 52-51, Alok Kumar (PSPB-4) bt Sarang Shroff (Mah) 28-62, 52-60, 93-1, 53-45, 98 (58)-23, 72-49 Pankaj Advani (PSPB-1) bt Chirag Ramakrishnan (Mah) 51-49, 59-15, 67-44, 9-62, 69-29, Niraj Kumar (Bihar) bt B.V.S. Murthy (Knt) 62-42, 42-58, 70-44, 49-58, 68-51, 5-97, 55-28, Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 79-27, 79-20, 98 (98)-1, 80-37, Yasin Merchant (Mah-2) bt Kamal Chawla (Rlys) 29-89, 78-42, 79-19, 64-20, 52-18, Aditya Mehta (Mah) bt Sourav Kothari (WB) 52-53, 70-54, 75(65)-12,73-48, 59-57, Rupesh Shah (Guj-3) bt Anuj Uppal (Del) 7-70, 78-1, 65-21, 53-50, 62-48.