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Cricket Club of India
Platinum Jubilee Open Snooker Tournament 2009
Chawla goes down fighting to Advani
Report by :: Pradeep
Vijayakar
Shahbaaz Khan and Kamal Chawla didn't do justice to their talent in the semi-finals of the Rs.3.7 Lakh CCI Platinum Jubilee snooker tournament on Friday.
Merchant outplayed Shahbaaz the double junior national champion 6-2 and defends
the title he last won in 2006 after a long wait. Advani had more resistance from
Chawla dropping three frames (6-3) and is eyeing an elusive title and the
jackpot of Rupees One Lakh. The last time the two giants met was in at the
Hyderabad Nationals when Advani beat Yasin 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Advani won
the national title at Indore where Merchant failed to make the knockout.
Advani had some slices of luck but made Chawla pay dearly for every miss. After
some time this aspect appeared to play on Chawla's mind when it came to shot
selection and shot making. As a result he invariably found himself getting
bogged down after playing a good shot which drew sighs of applause from the
packed Wilson Jones hall. What compounded Chawla's misery was his inability to
lay precise snookers. When he did Advani got out them with his wonted touch.
Once he even potted the red off two cushions, a shot he later humbly admitted
was no one he had attempted. Chawla's last chance was when he led 40-19 in the
ninth (3-5) but missed the red when he sat on the table to cue. Again it was the
anxiety to get position for the next shot that led to trouble. Advani leveled at
40-all, and got the last red on a platter to sew up the match.
Advani said, "Kamal had his chances, I grabbed all he gave me." Chawla said, "My safety, as usual was below par."
Shahbaaz was clearly overawed by the occasion his play just not tight enough in
opening stanza to trouble Merchant.