The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Anuja wins title

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Saturday, Feb 24, 2007
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Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Anuja wins title

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Anuja Thakur, on a roll at the ONGC-Khar Gymkhana National pool championships here, took Vidya Pillai in her stride en route to the women's 8-ball title on Friday. The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board cueist cashed in on every opportunity in the final and won 6-2.

Vidya's positional play was in keeping with her reputation as one of the top Indian cueists, but her potting fell below expectations when compared to the form displayed by her Mumbai rival in the event, where even a marginal error can prove costly.

Potting with confidence after grabbing the early initiative, Anuja improved on her last year's position. Chitra Magimairaj had won the final against the PSBP player last time.

Anuja and Vidya steamed into the final on the strength of identical 5-2 wins in the semifinals against Maharashtra's Neeta Sanghvi and Meenal Thakur respectively, while the quarterfinals produced surprise results.

Suniti Damani, the winner over champion Anuja in the league phase, went down to Meenal. Chitra's status as the reigning champion did not deter Neeta from giving off her best. The women now prepare for the 9-ball pool competition.

The results:

Women's 8-ball pool: Final: Anuja Thakur (PSPB) bt Vidya Pillai (TN) 6-2.

Semifinals: Anuja Thakur (PSPB) bt Neeta Sanghavi (Mah) 5-2; Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Meenal Thakur (Mah) 5-2.

Quarterfinals: Neeta Sanghavi (Mah) bt Chitra Magimairaj (Kar) 4-3; Anuja Thakur (PSPB) bt Sangeeta Hemchand (Mah) 3-1; Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Heena Khandelwal (Mah) 4-2; Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Suniti Damani (Ben) 4-2.

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