The Hindu : Sport : Aditya Mehta in sizzling form against Faizal Khan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 08, 2006

Sport

Sport

Aditya Mehta in sizzling form against Faizal Khan

S.R. Suryanarayan

CHENNAI: Maharashtra's Aditya Mehta was in sizzling form and Faizal Khan of Delhi was virtually swept away in the opening junior snooker semifinal round-robin match on Saturday in the LIC-BSNL National billiards and snooker championship.

Queering the pitch in this four-player final contest is the way Pankaj Advani has been exhibiting his skill. It was Lucky Vatnani of Andhra Pradesh who became Pankaj's latest victim. The lustre of the wins promise a veritable feast on Sunday when the final round-robin tie should effectively decide the title.

Aditya had started on an indifferent note but once Faizal nudged him by taking the first frame, the tide changed. Aditya reserved his best for the second frame when he went on to an unfinished 90 break, enough for the Delhi player to buckle. What was impressive in Aditya's display was his control in potting and his planning. Systematically he had the red disappearing from the table and more importantly doused Faizal's confidence.

In comparison, Lucky seemed to give a close run to Pankaj, and even took a frame. Pankaj, for once, did not get the habitual century breaks. Lucky showed assurance in potting but consistency was Pankaj's forte and the fifth frame reflected that with those gentle cuts and resounding long shots that had class written all over.

Earlier the contests for the four semifinal league berths gave indication that the title challenge will be a hard fought affair. If Pankaj and Aditya showed their class, each collecting a century break (Aditya's 112 being the best to Pankaj's 102), the way both Lucky and Faizal Khan came through impressed many around.

Sourav Kothari dazzles

Meanwhile in the men's bridge qualifying phase a significant winner in the day was former world champion Manoj Kothari's son Sourav Kothari who beat Arshad of Karnataka, capping a triple century break. Infact the latter conceded the match when the score read 755-97.

The results: Snooker: Junior boys: Semifinal round-robin: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Lucky Vatnani (AP) 58-49, 73-33, 82-38, 47-71, 70-20; Aditya Mehta (Mah) bt Fizal Khan (Del) 40-74, 90-0, 73-2, 83-1, 60-17. Quarterfinals: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Rouvin D'Souza (Mah) 78-23, 59-27, 129-0; Lucky Vatnanin (AP) bt Chetan Chabriya (Har) 60-18, 82-0, 67-15; Faizal Khan (Del) bt Ayush Kumar (Pun) 58-35, 84-4. 56-14; Aditya Mehta (Mah) bt Ajay Bhusan (Kar) 22-76, 121-8, 59-52, 53-51. Pre-quarterfinals: Lucky Vatnani bt Pranit (TN) 64-23, 71-9, 73-29; Faizal Khan bt Kisar Rawoof (AP) 60-46, 56-21, 49-47; Ajay Bhusan bt Pushpinder Singh (Del) 54-67, 65-18, 57-41, 67-11; Aditya Mehta bt Shahbaz Adil Khan (WB) 93-24, 83-12, 66-39; Ayush Kumar bt Vinay Kothari (TN) 70-30, 8-65, 64-52, 53-44; Chetan Chabria bt Ritesh Shabani (MP) 45-58, 31-66, 64-49, 44-27, 47-34.

Senior: qualifying round: Satish Kumar (Kar) bt Richi Ramaih 63-19, 47-21, 75-14; Nihaal Wadhwa (Kar) bt Shabaz Adil (WB) 79-48, 50-43, 74-40; Karan Anand bt Uma Kanth (TN) 55-9, 73-59, 70-6; Sharan Rajani (Kar) bt Rajeev Mohan (TN) 63-12, 50-58, 47-46, 69-15; Arshad (Kar) bt Praveen Kumar (AP) 63-24, 69-14, 32-60, 69-14; Khizaz Rawoof (AP) bt Bala Murugn (TN) 30-64, 54-38, 53-50, 54-21; Nakul Patel (Guj) bt Md Nayeem (UP) 26-62, 62-12, 61-45, 65-56. Billiards: Men: qualifying round: M.C. Manoj (TN) bt Rakesh Roshan (Ors) 702-197; Yogesh Rai (Rly) bt Syed Habib (TN) 511-469; Antim Singhi (TN) bt Nukul Patel (Guj) 678-344; Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Arshad (Kar) 755-97 concd.; Subramaniam (Mah) bt Kamaraj (TN) 503-310; Sidharth Parekh (Rly) bt A.K. Ahmed (TN) 907-230.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport