The Hindu : Meenal ahead in summit clash

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2004

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Meenal ahead in summit clash

By Kirti Patil

GWALIOR, JAN. 27. Playing in her maiden final, Maharashtra's Meenal Thakur led 2-1 against R. Uma Devi of Karnataka in the best-of-five frame summit clash at the 12th National women's snooker championship at the Jiwaji University here on Tuesday.

Meenal, who had disposed off the defending champion Vidya Pillai in the quarterfinals, picked up the given pieces to piece together her frames. She won the first 67-52 before losing the second 54-63. The third was a nail-biting affair which stretched to about an hour before Meenal thrived on Uma Devi's largesse on the yellow ball.

The pressure was clearly on Uma Devi. Figuring in her third straight final, Uma once again gave glimpses of nerves that has prevented her from winning the title so far. Despite making a break of 36 in the first frame, Uma allowed Meenal to close the gap through a series of `foul and miss' errors.

From a position where the cue ball got snookered by the green with only colour balls on the table, she scored 12 negative points as Meenal came back into the frame. But for some decent long pots, Meenal hardly made any impression.

Another foul by Uma gave Meenal the opening. She cleared five colour balls, and after two visits by each fetching nothing, Meenal potted the pink to clinch the first frame. The second followed a similar pattern but fortune smiled on Uma this time as she led 45-14. But Meenal stormed back into the frame, going up 54-52.

However, some silly mistakes while trying to clear the balls, put paid to Meenal's hopes. Uma took that frame to level the scores before Meenal made it 2-1 by winning the third.

In the play-off for third place, Anuja Thakur took over an hour to beat Sangeeta Hemchand of Maharashtra 54-33, 63-10.

Earlier in the morning, Meenal defeated her sister and former champion Anuja 36-55, 55-41, 49-62, 65-42, 65-57 while Uma dispatched Sangeeta 36-46, 56-15, 65-37, 48-39.

In the junior men's qualifying event, two Maharashtra cueists, Rishabh Thakkar and Mrinal Modak, G. Yughandhar of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh's Rahul Agarwal made it to the final round with contrasting victories.

The results: Final: Meenal Thakur (Mah) leads R. Uma Devi (Kar) 67-52, 54-63, 74-60.

Play-off for third place: Anuja Thakur (Mah) bt Sangeeta Hemchand (Mah) 54-33, 63-10.

Semifinals: Meenal bt Anuja 36-55, 55-41, 49-62, 65-42, 65-57; Uma bt Sangeeta 36-46, 56-15, 65-37, 48-39; Quarterfinals: Sangeeta bt Shraddha Deshmukh (MP) 60-42, 41-48, 36-49, 49-42, 50-25; Anuja bt Neeta Sanghvi (Mah) 46-21, 75-43, 61-3; Meenal bt Vidya Pillai (TN) 61-34, 53-40, 22-64, 33-53, 67-29.

Junior men qualifying round (snooker): Fourth round: Rahul Agarwal (MP) bt Chetan Chabra (AP) 68-22, 60-39, 76-53; Mrinal Modak (Mah) bt Prabhu Kishore (AP) 73-24, 48-40, 59-22; G. Yughandhar (Kar) bt Anurag Bagri (Ben) 11-72, 68-24, 31-68, 46-45, 68-29.

Third round: Rishabh Thakkar bt Ishuk Choudhary (J & K) 38-46, 62-17, 62-15, 68-29; Sumesh Turki bt Nakul Patel (Guj) 58-49, 52-11, 56-25; Rahul bt Shyamal Sharma (Bih) 66-26, 62-3, 58-69; Chetan bt Prabhat (Kar) 83-8, 49-8, 64-46; Prabhu Kishore bt Pranit (TN) 44-29, 26-40, 66-21, 51-13; Mrinal Modak bt Aayush Kumar (Pun) 81-11, 42-52, 67-37, 85-37; Anurag Bagri bt K. Murugeshan (TN) 62-38, 54-13, 66-36; G. Yughandhar bt Pushpinder Singh (Del) 57-40, 79-63, 74-1.

Second round: Rishabh Thakkar bt Naveen (TN) 47-8, 75-48, 66-13; Ishuk Choudhary bt Gautam Kalro (Kar) 59-12, 50-42, 46-59, 62-20; Sumesh Turki bt Kartik (TN) 13-51, 46-69, 57-28, 61-21, 58-56; Rahul Agarwal (MP) bt Shravan Mohta (Mah) 51-39, 21-67, 56-58, 60-57, 63-13; Shyamal Sharma bt Sunny Arya (MP) 68-30, 43-30, 71-35; Chetan Chabra bt Raju Dutta (Ben) 57-23, 68-9, 40-59, 53-30; Prabhat bt Gunjan Patel (Guj) 55-45, 12-53, 56-16, 66-34; Prabhu Kishore bt Harshil Thakker (Guj) 37-66, 70-32, 54-41, 19-53, 58-47; Pranit w.o. Nikhil Kapahi (J & K); Aayush Kumar bt R. Kirupa (TN) 59-46, 23-63, 58-31, 66-5; Mrinal Modak bt Nihal Wadhawa (Kar) 66-24, 51-41, 31-59, 59-33; K. Murugeshan bt Karan Sharda (Mah) 57-33, 81-76, 22-67, 51-16; Anurag Bagri bt Ankush Gupta (J & K) 65-25, 62-25, 57-18; G. Yughandhar bt Johnson Angela (TN) 50-42, 49-30, 90-33.

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