The Hindu : Sport : Pankaj Advani wins third title in a row

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Pankaj Advani wins third title in a row

Y.B. Sarangi

Meenal Thakur bags women’s crown

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

On cue: There was no stopping Pankaj Advani who added the National snooker crown to his kitty.

AGRA: Asserting his supremacy, Pankaj Advani won his third crown in a row when he beat Sourav Kothari in a thrilling title clash of the National snooker championship here on Sunday.

Advani faced a stiff competition from his fellow Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) cueist before emerging as the winner.

He won 28-111(102), 81-16, 78-1, 84-8, 11-78, 102-35, 152(102)-0, 0-98, 96(96)-0 in the best-of-11 game final.

The Bangalore-based player, thus, achieved a rare hat-trick of bagging double crowns.

The contest warmed up from the outset.

Despite conceding 12 points in the opening frame, Kothari sizzled on the green baize and potted aggressively to outsmart his opponent.

Advani took the challenge head on and notched up points from extraordinary pots to take the following three frames.

However, Advani’s increasing dominance could not thwart Kothari, who fought back with more grit and reduced the margin by pocketing the fifth frame.

Century break

Advani cruised in the next two and in the process earned his first century break.

Kothari rose to the occasion and potted confidently in his battle for survival in the eighth frame. However, it was Advani who had the last laugh.

“The way he (Kothari) was playing today, I thought I was gone.

“Fortunately, he missed a few shots which was not expected of him,” Advani said.

“After leading 3-1 it was a bit relaxing, but the danger was there as every time he kept coming back,” he said, adding the 6-3 victory did not reflect the intensity of the match.

Kothari praised Advani for his fighting qualities. “He (Advani) just stuck on even though I was getting back. All credit to him,” he said.

In the women’s final, Meenal Thakur of Maharashtra defeated last year’s champion from Tamil Nadu Vidya Pillai 75-42, 32-68, 56-50, 70-37 to bag her first double crown in the Nationals.

Second title

The 30-year-old potted beautifully to win her second snooker title in the Nationals. The closely-fought third frame was crucial which Meenal won by potting the black ball and seized control of the match.

“After winning the third frame, it was easy. In the fourth, I missed a few pots but I always had the lead,” an elated Meenal said.

Other results: Men:

Third place playoff: Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Yasin Merchant (Mah) 1-79, 78-54, 4-78, 90-6, 57-23.

Women: Third place playoff: Anuja Chandra (PSPB) bt Aranxta Sanchis (Mah) 71-13, 82-26.

Semifinals: Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Aranxta Sanchis (Mah) 40-60, 47-79, 58-20, 65-20, 77-28; Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Anuja Chandra (PSPB) 69-28, 15-59, 41-50, 81-57, 66-11.

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