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National Billiards & Snooker Championship
The Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium
Yousuf Guda - Hyderabad
:: Report - 24.12.2007 ::
by CSI Correspondent
Ishtmit Singh Malik
Hyderabad 24.12.2007 - Pankaj Advani, the 22 year old wonder boy of Indian billiards did himself proud this time in snooker as he achieved a grand double of National billiards and snooker titles here at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor stadium, Yousufguda on Monday evening even as the 2007 National billiards championship ended on the 18th day of cueing competition with the conclusion of the Seniors snooker event.
For Pankaj, the PSPB cueist from Bangalore who beat Aditya Mehta of Maharashtra in the Seniors snooker final by 54-42, 107-0, 58-23, 84-01, 82-22,49-65 and 62-60 points it was a historic triumph since the feat of bagging a double has not been done by other than a few legendary players. It must be mentioned here that the feat of Geet Sethi in winning 4 consecutive double's in the Seniors Nationals from 1985 to 1988 would be a difficult proposition even for this young prodigy.
Although the unprecedented success of the genius in Pankaj flowered in full vision of the cynosures of the game, the final match came as somewhat of a anti-climax. Much was expected from the unassuming Mumbai lad, Aditya but it was not to be. Overwhelmed by the occasion, Aditya just failed at the final hurdle. Right from the moment, Pankaj pocketed the second frame of the best of eleven affair with a break of 74 the writing was on the wall. Following it up with the third and fourth frames, Pankaj was leading by 4-0 in no time and the original programme of having five frames in the first session was curtailed and a breather taken.
On resumption, many expected Aditya to rally back but it was not to be. Pankaj added another frame to take his tally to a commanding 5-0 and as if proving that he also was a human after all dropped the sixth to Aditya on the run of play. When Aditya led by 60-43 with only the pink and back on the table it seemed that at least Aditya would have this frame too but it was not to be. Failing to make contact with the pink kept near the baulk with the cue-ball at the top end, Aditya in trying to attempt a thin slice of the pink missed giving away 6 points allowing Pankaj to comeback into the match after being on a snooker. Pankaj thereafter completed the formality by slicing the pink into the top pocket and then after asking the Referee, Ajay Rastogi to clean the cue-ball promptly put the black into the same top pocket to win the frame, match, title and with it a grand double too.
Manan Chandra playing effortlessly bagged the third place beating a seemingly un- motivated, fellow teammate from PSPB, Sourav Kothari in straight frames in the best of seven frames match by 64-15, 68-15, 54-41 and 62-58 points.
Expectedly the Juniors snooker crown went to Maharashtra youngster, Shravan Mohta who quelled whatever challenge and more Manish Jain of West Bengal had to offer. Potting with confidence and consistently positioning his cue-ball well after sinking any red, Shravan was in total control. Even so, Manish did sparkle of and on to take the first and fourth frames but it was not enough to stop the talented Shrvan from running away a 28-78, 67-31, 54-31, 39-74, 61-45 and 58-33 points winner in the end for a well deserved title.
Shoaib Khan of west Bengal had the satisfaction of earning the third place in the Juniors snooker event when he scored an emphatic four frames to two victory over Haryana's Aneesh Soni by 43-32, 46-41, 70-56, 34-71, 46-61 and 63-41 points. This young boy from Kolkata is sure to make waves in the very near future on the green baize at least in the snooker section.