The Hindu : Sport : Advani to meet Vatnani

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Monday, Sep 13, 2010
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Advani to meet Vatnani

Geet Sethi

Pune: Pankaj Advani will meet Lucky Vatnani in the final of the 2010 National snooker championship. In the semifinals both cueists registered identical 5-1 scorelines against Kamal Chawla and Aditya Mehta respectively at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana.

An early 136 clearance by Advani in the opening frame of his semifinal encounter provided further proof of his form. This is the highest break of the tournament so far, eclipsing Aditya Mehta's 132 in the league stage.

In terms of general tightness of play and his appetite for the big breaks, there seems to be little room for improvement, such was his command on Sunday. The focus and intensity, which he seems to find at will was missing only in the third frame, which Chawla won 69-57 on the pink ball after a series of unforced errors by both cueists. It was a remarkable performance from a cueist who exhibited sharp potting and nerves of steel. The sixth frame was a case in point when facing a 0-63 deficit courtesy a fluent effort of 62 from his opponent, Advani reduced his arrears to 57-63 with a well crafted 57 and then after a foul potted black for frame and match.

Vatnani's 5-1 victory over Aditya Mehta must rank as the biggest upset of this year's national event after the 4-0 victory of Delhi's Anuj Uppal over twice former Asian snooker champion Yasin Merchant.

The results (semifinals): Pankaj Advani bt Kamal Chawla 5-1 (136(136)-01, 89(42,43)-30, 57-69, 136(47,74)-00, 77(74)-02, 68(57)-63(62)). Lucky Vatnani bt Aditya Mehta 5-1 (59-16, 63-42, 59(52)-16, 05-80(67), 70(40)-61(53), 76(37)-63(57) .

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