The Hindu : Sport : Karnataka downs a battling Andhra for title

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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Karnataka downs a battling Andhra for title

Bangalore: A long wait lasting more than two decades ended at the KSBA Hall here on Monday night. Karnataka won the Tarun Kumar Memorial South Zone inter-State snooker team championship for the K.A. Nettakallappa Rolling Trophy with a 3-1 victory over a battling Andhra Pradesh team in the final. It was also a double for Karnataka, having won the billiards title earlier on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu had bagged the double in the tournament's last edition, held way back in 1986 and understandably Karnataka was charged up in winning back the trophies in a championship that was revived after a gap of 21 years.

Not an easy path

However the path to the victor's podium was never easy. In a final that commenced at 12.30 p.m. and went on till 7 p.m. with just a 45-minute lunch break providing some respite for the cueists, Karnataka's captain B. Bhaskar held his nerve to pilot his team to victory after a doubles blip nearly undid the host's march.

Karnataka won its opening round of singles with D. Raj Kumar defeating S. Shankar 64-6, 29-58, 6-71, 55-45, 61-34 and Bhaskar defeating Lucky Vatnani 19-73, 75-4, 72-63, 62-64, 87-43. However in the doubles, the pair of Bhaskar and S. Bopanna remained inconsistent and suffered a 36-63, 46-71, 34-57 defeat against Lucky Vatnani and Shankar. Bhaskar had his low points against pink and often stumbled while potting.

Playing to form

He, however, played to form in the reverse singles, defeating Shankar 61-5, 61-54, 64-59. A break of 40 in the last frame proved crucial as it snuffed out Shankar's hopes. And as Bhaskar emerged triumphant, the other reverse singles between Raj Kumar and Lucky Vatnani was called off. Vatnani was leading 2-0 before the match became redundant following Bhaskar's victory.

Karnataka got richer by Rs. 10000 while Andhra Pradesh secured a cheque for Rs. 5000.

Meanwhile late on Sunday night, Karnataka defeated Andhra Pradesh 2-1 to make it a three-way tie along with Tamil Nadu in the league phase. The organisers initially toyed with the idea of having a one-frame shoot-out between the three teams to decide the finalists but finally opted for better frame average in the league and through that Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka gained entry into the final.

The results: Final: Karnataka beat Andhra Pradesh 3-1 (D. Raj Kumar bt S. Shankar 64-6, 29-58, 6-71, 55-45, 61-34; B. Bhaskar bt Lucky Vatnani 19-73, 75-04, 72-63, 62-64, 87-43;

B. Bhaskar and Boppanna lost to Lucky Vatnani and S. Shankar 36-63, 46-71, 34-57;

B. Bhaskar bt S. Shankar 61-05, 61-54, 64-59).

Sunday league: Karnataka bt Andhra Pradesh 2-1 (D. Raj Kumar lost to Lucky Vatnani 30-67, 42-50, 39-67; B. Bhaskar bt S. Shankar 78-52, 57-36, 19-70, 62-20; B. Bhaskar and D. Raj Kumar bt Lucky Vatnani and Shankar 61-27, 5-90, 12-74, 71-38, 69-27).

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