Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Merchant triumphs

MUMBAI: Asian champion Yasin Merchant’s class, temperament and experience came in handy against India No. 2 Aditya Mehta in the final of the Khar Gymkhana-Shyam Shroff Memorial Open snooker on Sunday night.

The former won 62-29, 81-32, 64-24, 76-7, 58-80, 51-74, 58-48 in the championship round at the Khar Gymkhana that stretched to over four hours. “My safety play was good and I managed to keep Aditya tight,” said Merchant.

Merchant received Rs. 60,000, Mehta got Rs. 30,000 and India No. 1 Pankaj Advani got Rs. 5,000 for the event’s highest break.

Merchant raced to a 4-0 lead. Then, an unscheduled interval disturbed his rhythm and Mehta used the opportunity to reduce the margin by winning the fifth and sixth frames. The Asian champion wrested back the initiative in the seventh frame for the title.

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