The Hindu : Anuja, Uma start in right earnest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Anuja, Uma start in right earnest

By Kirti Patil

GWALIOR, JAN. 28. Two-time champion Anuja Thakur of Maharashtra made an great start to the defence of her title with three league wins, all with identical 2-0 margins, in the 12th women's National billiards championship at the Jiwaji University here on Wednesday.

In the Group `A' league, Anuja of Maharashtra opened with a 50-19, 51-4 win against Smita of Madhya Pradesh and then survived some tense moments before winning 51-43, 50-26 against Sangeeta Hemchand. Later in the evening, Anuja recorded the highest break of 36, mainly combining red pots and red in-offs, as she beat Shireen Bano 50-7, 53-20 to cement her quarterfinal berth.

Former champion R. Uma Devi became first the qualify for the quarterfinals by beating Lavanya of Tamil Nadu, Sonal Mamuwala of Maharashtra and Mehjabeen Raza of Anhdra Pradesh, all with matching 2-0 score-lines. Uma, who got a walkover from Heena Khandelwal of Maharashtra, topped the pool with three points. Two players each from each of the four groups make it to the quarterfinals.

Snooker champ Meenal

ensures last eight berth

Meenal Thakur of Maharashtra, who had beaten Uma in the snooker final 3-2 (67-52, 54-63, 74-60, 21-59, 43-42) on Tuesday, almost confirmed her place in the quarterfinals with two wins from as many matches, in the Group `C'.

The junior men's qualifying snooker witnessed an upset of sorts when the gifted Rishabh Thakkar stumbled at the final hurdle. Thakkar, the India number three in juniors, lost to Rahul Agarwal of Madhya Pradesh 57-31, 21-67, 56-43, 90-44. Maharashtra's Mrinal Modak became the second qualifier beating Karnataka's G. Yughandhar 50-60, 12-70, 63-3, 75-46, 69-38.

The results (league, 50-up):

Group A: Anuja Thakur (Mah) bt Smita (MP) 50-19, 51-4; Soumini Srinivas (TN) bt Shireen Bano (AP) 51-10, 51-39; Anuja bt Sangeeta Hemchand (Mah) 51-43, 50-26; Soumini bt Sangeeta 52-30, 52-23; Shireen bt Smita 52-49, 42-51, 51-41; Anuja bt Shireen 50-7, 53-20.

Group B: Uma Devi (Kar) bt Lavanya (TN) 50-5, 50-40; Mehjabeen Raza (AP) w/o Heena Khandelwal (Mah); Uma bt Sonal Mamuwala (Mah) 51-9, 50-26; Lavanya bt Mehjabeen 50-32, 24-50, 52-47; Sonal w/o Heena ; Lavanya w/o Heena ; Uma bt Mehjabeen 50-12, 50-9.

Group C: Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Vidya Pillai (TN) 51-32, 51-12; Chitra M. (Kar) bt Neeta Kothari (Ben) 50-22, 50-10; Meenal w/o Shraddha Deshmukh (MP); Vidya bt Neeta 50-39, 51-10; Chitra M. w/o Shraddha; Neeta w/o Shraddha; Meenal bt Neeta 57-14, 51-13.

Group D: T.V. Sri Devi (Kar) bt M. Fernandes (Kar) 50-37, 28-51, 50-48; Kamala C. Babu (TN) bt Ashwini Puranik (MP) 51-32, 54-38; Sri Devi bt Neeta Sanghvi (Mah) 50-33, 50-40; Ashwini bt Fernandes 50-27, 50-21; Neeta bt Kamala 50-45, 51-14; Ashwini bt Sri Devi 50-10, 24-51, 50-47.

Junior men's snooker (qualifying round): Rahul Agarwal (MP) bt Rishabh Thakkar (Mah) 57-31, 21-67, 56-43, 90-44; Mrinal Modak (Mah) bt G. Yughandhar (Kar) 50-60, 12-70, 63-3, 75-46, 69-38.s

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