The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Indian contingent’s march continues

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Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Indian contingent’s march continues

Geet Sethi

SNOOKER / Vidya Pillai lone Indian to lose

Wels (Austria): The seven-member Indian contingent marched on with only one reversal, the 0-3 loss of Vidya Pillai at the hands of England’s Reanne Evans in the 2008 IBSF World snooker championships here at the BRP-Rotax Hall.

Pankaj Advani, Manan Chandra and Sourav Kothari, the three Indian cueists in the men’s section all performed with predictable consistency to post their third successive victories of the round-robin stage.

Sourav Kothari, the current India No. 4 who has spent considerable time in upgrading his technique in the World Snooker Coaching Academy in Sheffield, provided substantial proof of his skills in his 4-1 win over Belgium’s Danny Lathouwers.

When he lost the opening frame 60-65 on the black, it appeared that he could be stretched in the best-of-seven contest. However, Kothari was quick to regroup and convincingly won four successive frames, the highlight being a 68 constructed with precise positional command over the cue ball.

Rare grit

Manan Chandra, the maverick cueist from Delhi, toned down his adventurous approach to carve out a 4-1 victory over Peter Francisco, a former professional player. Playing without caution and care Chandra was tied at 1-1 losing the second frame on the black. However, shifting to a slightly more tactical play and eliminating the rash shots provided immediate dividends.

Trapping his opponent with prolonged safety play, Chandra received an opening with a red over the pocket, which he converted into a frame-winning 64 to win the third. His opponent retaliated with a 51 but Chandra continued to exhibit rare grit and patience and eventually won the fourth 63-54.

Advani had yet another difficult encounter and again held his nerve when he was heartened by a late fightback from his opponent. Playing against Scotland’s Thomas Sorely he established a comforting 3-0 advantage albeit without any big breaks.

But well aware that any cueist coming from the land of Stephen Hendry and John Higgins would not be a pushover, Advani saw his lead erode fairly quickly as Sorely reduced the deficit to 2-3. But in the sixth the 24-year-old Indian played with authority and conviction to win 69-31.

Like Kothari, Vidya Pillai has also spent time at the World Snooker Coaching Academy. However against Reanne, a former women’s World snooker champion, Pillai was always fighting an uphill battle. I won my second Masters section match 3-0 against Yaakov Shasuashvilli of Israel with modest contributions of 36 & 38.

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