The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Prem Prakash pulls off an upset win over Sujaritthurakarn

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Prem Prakash pulls off an upset win over Sujaritthurakarn

Avinash Nair

Sethi, Advani and Rupesh Shah cruise through

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

FOCUSSED: Prem Prakash lines up a shot in his game against Thawat Sujaritthurakarn on Monday.

BANGALORE: It was a charge of the Indian brigade at the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA). On the opening day of the ONGC-IBSF World billiards championship here on Monday, the Indians expectedly were on roll with Geet Sethi, the reigning IBSF time format champion Pankaj Advani and points format champion Rupesh Shah cruising through.

But it was Prem Prakash from Coimbatore who ruffled a few feathers on this day. A former Tamil Nadu triple-crown — billiards, snooker and pool — holder, Prem Prakash dug into his reserves to pull off a 3-2 victory over Thai no 2. Thawat Sujaritthurakarn, for what could be termed as the first upset of the championship.

Prem Prakash came back from 0-1 and 1-2 down to tilt the match in his favour and win 103-151 (58), 153 (111 unf)-139, 148-151, 151-120, 151-120.

“He was leading by 109 points in the second frame and I came up with an unfinished 111 to level the frame scores…and that probably tilted the match too. Although he went up again winning the third I had the confidence,” said Prem Prakash after the Group H match.

Century breaks

Advani started off with three successive century breaks to wrap up the opener against Calum Hossack of Scotland in under 40 minutes at 151-(145)-5, 150 (146 unf)-0, 151-(103)-17 and then came back in the third session to put it across Suriya Suwannasingh of Thailand in Group B.

Sethi vanquished Michael Wright of Europe in Group A at 152-39, 152-55, 151-21 following a fluent 150-66, 151-93, 153 (153 unf)-0 scoreline against Singapore’s Alan Puan.

With the two Afghanistan players not turning up, veteran Arvind Savur and former National champion Alok Kumar were added to the draw. While Savur fell by the wayside against qualifier Devendra Joshi, Alok Kumar rolled past Aidan Murray of Ireland 150-61, 152-86, 151-79.

“I got a call late last evening near Delhi and had to rush home and catch the early morning flight. Reached here around 10 a.m. and was understandably tired,” said the Punjab cueist.

Local player B. Bhaskar looked in good nick en route his 3-0 whitewash of Englishman Philip Mumford as did Dhruv Sitwala against New Zealand’s Wayne Carey. Rupesh Shah posted a 3-0 verdict over Sri Lankan S.M. Shaharwawardi.

Devendra Joshi, coming through the qualifying ranks, proved more than a point with a crushing 151-141, 151-74, 2-150, 150-2 win over holder Rupesh Shah in a Group A clash.

The results: League: Group A: Rupesh Shah (Ind) bt S.M. Shaharwardi (SL) 3-0 [151 (83) - 53, 151 (66) - 35, 150 (134) – 21]; Devendra Joshi (Ind) bt Arvind Savur (Ind) 3-0 [151 - 37, 150 (94) - 98, 151 (118) – 29]; Devendra Joshi bt Rupesh Shah 3-1 [151-141, 151-74, 2-150, 150-2]; Arvind Savur bt S.M. Shaharwardi 3-1 [151-129, 151-124, 109-150, 150 (100)-38].

Group B: Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Calum Hossack (Sco) 3-0 [151 (145) - 05, 150 (146) – 0, 151 (103) – 17]; Suriya Suwannasingh (Tha) bt Gary Oliver (NZ) 3-1 [150-49, 150-146, 96-150, 150-91]; Pankaj Advani bt Suriya 3-0 [150-105, 152-90, 150-67]; Gary Oliver bt Calum Hossack 3-0 [150-9, 152-66, 150-48].

Group C: Praprut Chaithanasakun (Tha) bt Darren Taylor (NZ) 3-0 [151 (67) - 27, 151 (61) - 39, 150 (56) – 24]; Sourav Kothari (Ind) bt Thanh Binh Nguyen (Viet) 3-1 [150 (85)-68, 150 (114)-87, 80-150, 150 (97)-107]; Praprut C bt Sourav Kothari 3-0 [150-15, 151-67, 151-42]; Thanh Binh Nguyen bt Darren Taylor 3-0 [150-110, 151-65, 151-27].

Group D: Geet Sethi (Ind) bt Teik Chong Alan Puan (Sin) 3-0 [150 (78) - 66, 151 (79)-93, 153 (153) – 0]; Md. Aslam (SL) bt Michael Wright (EBOS) 3-0 [150 (51) - 94, 150-138, 151-139]; Geet Sethi bt Michael Wright 3-0 [152-39, 152-55, 151-21]; Alan Puan bt Mohd. Aslam 3-1 [88-151, 150-116, 150-58, 150-53].

Group E: Peter Gilchrist (Sin) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Ind) 3-0 [153 (47, 55) - 46, 152 (72) - 90 (50), 150 (110 unf) – 39]; Thanh Long Nguyen (Viet) bt Larry Drennan (Ire) 3-0 [151 - 70, 152 - 34, 150 (137) – 04].

Group F: Alok Kumar (Ind) bt Aidan Murray (Ire) 3-0 [150 (51) - 61, 152 - 86, 151 (56) – 79]; B. Bhaskar (Ind) bt Philip Mumford (Eng) 3-0 [151-48, 150 (74 unf)-13, 150-143].

Group G: Brijesh Damani (Ind) bt Raghoo Sinha (Ind) 3-1 [151 (73) - 84, 82 - 151, 152 - 12, 150 (52) – 39]; Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) bt Wayne Carey (NZ) 3-0 [150 (93) - 12, 150 (142 unf) - 47, 150 (62) – 31].

Group H: Md. Asim (Ind) bt Boon Aun Keith (Sin) 3-1 [152 - 110, 150 (117) - 30, 138 - 152, 150 – 29]; Prem Prakash (Ind) bt Thawat Sujaritthurakarn (Tha) 3-2 [103- 151 (58), 153 (111unf) - 139, 148 (47) - 151, 151 (49) - 120, 151 (54) – 120].

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