Date:14/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/14/stories/2007121461462500.htm

Sport

Advani dethrones Sethi

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Vidya wins snooker crown

— Photo: H. Satish

GETTING IT RIGHT: Vidya Pillai beat Anuja Chandra to win the snooker title.

HYDERABAD: World champion Pankaj Advani knocked out defending champion Geet Sethi 1323-1064 in the semifinals of the men’s senior billiards of the 74th National championships at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

Advani will clash with Ashok Shandilya who defeated Rupesh Shah 1052-934 in the other semifinal.

In the ladies snooker final, Vidya Pillai of Tamil Nadu exacted sweet revenge on Anuja Chandra (PSPB) with a 81-3, 41-52, 49-59, 54-46, 52-23 victory. In the last National, Anuja had prevailed over the Tamil Nadu girl.

It was a remarkable day for Vidya who was also involved in a marathon five-frame semifinal in the morning.

Satisfying win

The 22-year-old Advani produced a break of 196 on the 39th visit to steer clear of Sethi. “It was a very tough match. I won’t use the word revenge to describe this victory. But this is a very satisfying win as he is a formidable opponent any time,” said Advani, when asked whether it was sweet revenge after losing to the 46-year-old Sethi in the previous National final.

Sethi, on the other hand, rued the easy chances he missed. He failed to come up with a century break during the first session as he took time to settle down.

He made amends with a 200-break on the 25th visit in the second session. Advani was more consistent, the breaks of 206 (third), 108 (27th), 93 (31st), 196 (39th) and 71 (41st) proving this. The win put him in his third final.

On the adjacent table, it was vintage stuff from Shandilya in the first session as he took a whopping 747-172 lead.

The 39-year-old Shandilya had a tougher time in the second session as the reigning world champion (time format) Rupesh made a remarkable comeback.

Incredible break

Rupesh produced an incredible break of 453 on the 29th visit to take his score from 447 to 900, a display that left even his opponent stunned.

After that extraordinary effort, Rupesh could not come up with any more century breaks, while Shandilya’s breaks of 291 (eighth), 132 (17th) and 153 (23rd) kept his rival at bay.

The results:

Men: Billiards (semifinals): Pankaj Advani (Kar) bt Geet Sethi (Guj) 1323-1064; Ashok Shandilya bt Rupesh Shah 1052-934.

Ladies: Snooker: Final: Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Anuja Chandra (PSPB) 81-3, 41-52, 49-59, 54-46, 52-23; Semifinals: Anuja bt Heena Khandelwal 44-59, 50-57, 62-16, 80-29, 50-8; Vidya bt R. Uma Devi 45-70, 4-71, 82-34, 49-17, 77-29.

Junior billiards: Men: Qualifying: Harshendu Giri w/o Mundir Sherazi; Andy Chinn w/o Naman Agarwal; Reza Merchant bt V. Ranjith 285-213; Ishaan Bhale bt Talhah A. Mujadaddy 303-198; Hitesh Soni bt Mujaddid A. Kujaddady 282-10; C. D’Souza bt Kiran Babu 273-257; Reza Merchant bt Ishaan Bhale 369-289.