The Hindu : Sitwala sparkles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 09, 2004

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Sitwala sparkles

By Kirti Patil

GWALIOR, FEB. 8. In a masterpiece show with floating white, Dhruv Sitwala set a new benchmark of highest break despite under pressure against snooker ace Yasin Merchant in the last league match in the 70th National billiards championship at the Jiwaji University here on Sunday.

Sitwala negotiated the final minutes well to win by 86 points, but he found himself in the tough bottom half of the draw, which also features seven-time World champion Geet Sethi, Asian champion Devendra Joshi and Pankaj Advani.

"I was down by 200-odd points with 25 minutes on the clock and the only way to overcome the deficit was to occupy the table as long as possible,'' Sitwala, the runner-up of the 2003 Jammu Nationals, said after piling up a break of 270.

Playing as if there was no tomorrow, Sitwala decided to forget what happened in the past. In a meticulous show of top table floating white, which makes baulk line crossing easier, Sitwala overhauled the point arrears and went on to surpass the then highest break, a 235 posted by Geet Sethi earlier in the morning.

Playing with poise, Sitwala crossed the mandatory baulk line without much fuss and when he reached 250 he heaved a sigh of relief. Once he crossed 250, he broke the top table position and in trying a long jenny he missed potting the red as his break came to a halt on 270. Merchant had no position to score any point and Sitwala hurriedly added 19 more to close the issue 575-489.

Sitwala now meets out-of-form Rupesh Shah in the pre-quarterfinals. Shah lost to the defending champion Alok Kumar 649-360 with Alok Kumar making breaks of 50, 56, 99, 58 and 120 to keep himself stimulated for the tougher contests.

Kothari stuns Joshi

In his maiden appearance in the senior Nationals, Sourav Kothari registered one of the biggest upsets by beating Asian champion Devendra Joshi. Kothari followed his good work - he had so far scored four centuries in his last two league matches that he won - with an equally resolute play against Joshi. Though centuries eluded Kothari, there was no reason for him to worry.

The Bengal cueist made steady and consistent breaks, 59, 57, 73, 72, 50 and 93 to establish an early lead of 200-odd points. With Kothari offering no top table positions, it became difficult for Joshi, the winner of Asian title in Myanmar, to amass a big break. Kothari won 678-483.

Meanwhile, Geet Sethi scored his third straight win, an easy one after surviving a scare against Shyam Jagtiani last night. He defeated Nishant Azad 1118-149, scoring four centuries - 198 (fourth visit), 100 (16th), 235 (17th) 125 (24th).

The results:

Group A: Alok Kumar (Pun) bt Rupesh Shah (Guj) 649-360; Ajay Rehani (Del) bt Subrat Das (Ori) 581-336.

Group B: Dhruv Sitwala (Rly) bt Yasin Merchant (Mah) 575-489.

Group C: Pankaj Advani (Kar) bt Prem Prakash (TN) 841-423; Neeraj Kumar (Bih) w.o Dharminder Lilly (Pun).

Group D: Sourav Kothari (Ben) bt Devendra Joshi (Mah) 678-483; Devendra Joshi bt Kamal Chawla (MP) 847-333; Kamal Chawla bt Ami Lal (Del) 804-415.

Group E: Ashok Shandilya (Rly) bt Debasish Mukherjee (Ben) 819-349; Praveen Kumar (TN) bt Aswarya Arya (MP) 485-436; Siddharth Parikh (Rly) bt Praveen Kumar 774-396; Siddharth Parikh bt Debasish Mukherjee 888-233.

Group F: Geet Sethi (Guj) bt Nishant Azad (J and K) 1118-149; Jaswinder Singh (Raj) bt Nishant Azad (J and K) 546-382.

Group G: B. Bhaskar (Kar) bt Yogendra Rai (MP) 691-312; Rishabh Thakkar (Mah) bt I. S. Malik (UP) 776-347; Yogendra Rai bt Farooq Ebrahim (AP) 488-335; B. Bhaskar bt I. S. Malik 818-331; Rishabh Thakkar bt Yogendra Rai 639-379.

Group H: Vishal Madan (Rly) bt S. Mumtaz Ali (Bih) 702-292; Mohammed Asim (Rly) bt S. Mumtaz Ali 749-224; Mohammed Asim bt Micky Bhargawa (Raj) 785-155; Vishal Madan w.o Micky Bhargawa; Durga Prasad (AP) w.o Micky Bhargawa.

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