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Billiards & Snooker
By V.V. Subrahmanyam
India's Geet Sethi prepares to play a shot in his semifinal match against Paul Bennet of England in the World billiards championship in Hyderabad on Saturday. — Photos: H. Satish
The Indian star, the darling of the thousands of fans thronging the venue, was off to a grand start wrapping up the first three frames with breaks of 68 in the first, an unfinished 148 in the second and 91 in the third. He continued his brilliant touch into the fourth frame and was leading comfortably at 142-102 when he fumbled badly with a tricky in-off. The error gave a glimmer of hope to the Englishman and he seized on the chance to clinch the frame with breaks of 79 and 72, even as Geet picked useful breaks of 56 and 64. Bennet won the next frame too. If Bennet entertained any hopes of a great comeback, they were effectively thwarted by the genius of Geet as he reeled off an unfinished 150 break on the very first visit. Geet was not content in confining his game to the top of the table but showed his skills in potting the red from the centre too. No doubt, there were two occasions when his attempt to pot the red almost ended on the wrong side as on both the occasions the `red' just rolled into the pocket to the delight of the 42-year-old Geet Sethi. Surprisingly, the grand fare of the sixth game didn't stretch into the seventh as both had their own moments of frustration, more due to the poor quality of game. There were three blank visits each and all of them for `safe play'.
England's Lee Lagan studies the baize intently before playing his next shot in his semifinal encounter with Ashok Shandilya of India.
But once Geet broke the monotony with a classy cushion cannon, it was all over bar shouting for Bennet as the top-seed came up with yet another big unfinished break of 91 to wrap up the game and the match. "Well, it is always great to be in the final of a World championship in front of the home crowd," said Geet remarked later. Earlier, scripting an unfinished break of 152 in the decisive frame, Lee Lagan put paid to the aspirations of Shandilya with a thrilling 150-46, 59-151, 153-46, 90-151, 2-151, 151-86, 151-15, 10-150, 152-0 win. No doubt, there was very little to choose between the two. Apparently, it all boiled down to who would capitalise on the chances that came their way. And this was what made the difference after the scores were tied four-all in the nine-frame contest. Shandilya's first visit drew a blank and a rare lapse in concentration saw him miss a cannon. This was just what his opponent was waiting for. Like a true champion, the 2000 World championship quarterfinalist, rose to the occasion and dished out an exhilarating fare. Once he got the desired ball control, Lee Lagan started picking up points at will. He was under immense pressure in the final game but he warded it off with great grit and character. Shandilya, the reigning 50-format World champion, was in vintage form. Not very often does one see a player record three century breaks and still end up on the losing side. But Dame Luck didn't smile on the Indian who recorded breaks of 72 and 86 in the second game, 101 in the fourth, 122 in the fifth and 143 in the eighth, with some quality fare. For someone who clearly relished being away from the spotlight, this Englishman was more than a match for the Indian. He produced an unfinished break of 87 in the first game, another unfinished break of 153 in the third, 72 in the sixth, productive breaks of 84 and 65 unfinished in the seventh and then the unfinished break of 152 in the decider which spelt doom for Shandilya. Truly it was one of those great sporting encounters where there was very little to choose between the winner and the loser.
The results: Semifinals: Lee Lagan (Eng) bt Ashok Shandilya (Ind) 150-46, 59-151, 153-46, 90-151, 2-151, 151-86, 151-15, 10-150, 152-0; Geet Sethi (Ind) bt Paul Bennet (Eng) 151-75, 152-40, 150-13, 142-154, 47-151, 150-0, 150-75. Quarterfinals: Geet Sethi (Ind) bt Praput Chaithanasakun (Thai) 150-56, 150-48, 150-120, 95-152, 66-152, 152-0; Paul Bennet (Eng) bt Robby Foldvari (Aust) 152-98, 54-150, 3-150, 153-44, 151-143, 150-143; Lee Lagan (Eng) bt U Aung San Oo (Myanmar) 150-32, 150-137, 150-101, 150-33; Ashok Shandilya (Ind) bt U Kuaw Oo (Myanmar) 93-150, 150-46, 103-152, 118-151, 151-2, 151-72, 150-34.
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