The Hindu : Sport : Pankaj Advani completes a double

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Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007
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Pankaj Advani completes a double

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Pockets snooker crown with consummate ease

— Photo: H. Satish

DOUBLE DELIGHT: Pankaj Advani was unstoppable and pocketed the snooker title. He had earlier won the billiards title too.

HYDERABAD: Pankaj Advani seemed to have reserved his best for the title-clash. In a scintillating display he outclassed Aditya Mehta of Maharashtra 54-42, 107-0, 58-23, 84-1, 82-22, 49-65, 62-60 to win the senior snooker title and complete a double in the Seaways Group-sponsored National billiards and snooker championship here on Monday.

So awesome was Advani’s form in the morning session that he wrapped up four straight frames and the organisers postponed the rest of the frames, just to ensure that there would be something for the evening crowd.

All that Aditya Mehta could do was watch in admiration as the World champion dished out a lesson in the art of scoring in the big match. The frequency with which he played the ‘stun’ shot really shocked the opponent too.

Safe play

The start was certainly not spectacular as both Pankaj and Aditya Mehta missed some simple reds. Pankaj, who missed a simple blue in the first frame at 36-42, came back strongly to clinch it in 45 minutes.

The second frame took just 20 minutes as Pankaj piled up a break of 74 to win it easily at 107-0 with Aditya making just two blank visits.

The story continued for the next two frames as Pankaj dominated the show with clinical excellence and Aditya struggled to get into rhythm which was so good till Sunday. “I just played badly and nothing went right for me,” he said.

There was a four-hour break for the second session but there was no break in Pankaj’s rhythm on resumption. He came up with a break of 82 which was just the start he wanted to take a convincing 5-0 lead.

Then Aditya made amends to clinch the sixth frame as Pankaj suddenly seemed to lose some of his concentration.

And in the seventh frame, it seemed Aditya was getting into the groove as he snatched a comfortable 60-49 lead even as Pankaj had a miss and a foul, to the delight of his opponent.

Then Aditya fumbled badly with the coloured balls and at 49-60 Pankaj came back strongly with high quality potting to seal the fate of his despondent opponent.

“I am feeling ecstatic. Winning a double is something special and winning a snooker title after four years makes it all the more satisfying,” remarked the jubilant winner.

“The morning session went the way I planned for I put my heart and soul into it to get a good start,” he said. “I dedicate this victory to my family members especially to my brother (Shree),” said a beaming Pankaj even as fans lined up for autographs.

Mohta is junior champ

Earlier in the morning, Sravan Mohta of Maharashtra won the junior snooker title after defeating Manish Jain of West Bengal 28-78, 67-31, 54-31, 39-74, 61-45, 58-33 in a crucial round-robin league match.

Manish finished second while Shoaib Khan of West Bengal defeated Aneesh Soni of Haryana 43-32, 46-41, 70-56, 34-71, 46-61, 63-41 for third place.

The result:

Snooker: seniors: final: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Aditya Mehta (Mah) 54-42, 107-0, 58-23, 84-1, 82-22, 65-49, 62-60.

Final placings: 1. Pankaj Advani, 2. Aditya Mehta, 3. Manan Chandra, 4.Sourav Kothari.

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