The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Alok on song

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Alok on song

Chennai: Alok Kumar won all his three matches at the MCC on Saturday, putting himself in a strong position to qualify in both the men’s and masters draws for October’s World snooker championship to be held in Wels, Austria.

After winning both his masters draw matches, he recorded a 70-20, 42-63, 23-75, 61-23, 66-33, 70-1 win over Manan Chandra in his opening men’s draw match.

Pankaj Advani also took six frames in his men’s match against Sourav Kothari, winning 22-79, 83-52, 80-27, 64-70, 62-39, 72-43.

Earlier, in the masters draw, Geet Sethi emerged with two wins from two, sneaking his second after M.C. Manoj, leading 52-30 in the fifth frame, missed potting brown down the baulk end immediately after the reds had been cleared.

This was just the opening Sethi needed, and he grabbed the 27 points on offer, assuring himself a play-off on Sunday.

Sethi leads the group with two wins, while Manoj and Harinarayanan have one win each.

In Group ‘A,’ Alok and Saleem were assured of top two berths, after each handed defeats to Arvind Savur and Kamraj.

The winner of Group ‘A’ will take on the Group ‘B’ runner-up, and vice-versa, in Sunday’s play-offs.

The results:

Men’s draw (best of seven): Pankaj Advani bt Sourav Kothari 22-79, 83-52, 80-27, 64-70, 62-39, 72-43; Alok Kumar bt Manan Chandra 70-20, 42-63, 23-75, 61-23, 66-33, 70-1.

Masters draw (best of five): Group ‘A’: Alok Kumar bt Arvind Savur 65-15, 1-75, 79-33, 77-44; S.A. Saleem bt Kamraj 56-5, 62-35, 81-45; Alok Kumar bt Kamraj 97-5, 74-9, 38-63, 50-53, 64-8; S.A. Saleem bt Arvind Savur 61-19, 36-62, 83-17, 69-17.

Group ‘B’: Geet Sethi bt Rajmohan 53-40, 78-1, 77-23; M.C. Manoj bt Harinarayanan 67-49, 57-62, 59-68, 71-21, 58-28; Harinarayanan bt Rajmohan 46-49, 61-42, 65-15, 66-31; Geet Sethi bt M.C. Manoj 57-37, 66-50, 16-61, 45-72, 57-52. — Sports Reporter

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