Kamal Chawla and Sourav Kothari will lock horns in the best-of-eleven-frames final of the Kences Constructions-ASCA international snooker tournament to be held on Saturday.
On Friday, Chawla edged out a determined Steven Chau 5-3 in a semifinal clash that was contested on an even keel. With the score locked at 1-1, Chawla secured the next two frames with ease.
But his opponent from Hong Kong bounced back to win frames five and six. However, Chawla reserved his best for the last two frames and walked away with a victory.
In the other semifinal, Kothari came from a frame behind to record a clinical 5-1 victory over Noppon Saengkham of Thailand. Saengkham, who had stunned Asian snooker champion Aditya Mehta with a 4-3 win in the quarterfinal earlier in the day, produced a listless performance.
While Saengkham’s potting ran ragged, Kothari ensured his turns at the table were productive.
He ramped up breaks of 55 in the second frame, 60 and 57 in the third, 65 in the fourth, 57 and 49 in the fifth, and 71 in the final frame.
With a game based on accuracy and deft touches, Kothari wrapped up the match in fairly quick time.
The results: Best-of-nine-frames: Semifinals: Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Steven Chau (HK) 5–3 (81(81)-0, 55(54)-68, 73-20, 104(54, 46)-1, 13-72(52), 44-75, 71-8, 71-36), Sourav Kothari (Ind) bt Noppon Saengkham (Tha) 5-1 (57-68, 93(55)-31, 118(60,57)-1, 95(65)-16, 109(57,49)-11, 77(71)-7).
Quarterfinals: Best-of-seven-frames: Saengkham bt Aditya Mehta (Ind) 4-3 (116-1, 38-59, 84-66, 43-82, 19-83, 87-13, 104-0), Kothari bt Andy Lee (HK) 4-2 (13-108(100), 59-50, 78-39, 92(91)-0, 21-69, 65-26), Chau bt Brijesh Damani (Ind) 4-2 (10-74, 5-65(48), 61(48)-32, 53-41, 66-52, 59-45), Chawla bt Laxman Rawat (Ind) 4-1 (82-43, 57-49, 87-33, 17-67, 79-24).
Pre-quarterfinals: Best-of-seven frames: Chau bt Manish Jain (Ind) 4-3 (68-32, 58-13, 31-66, 79-30, 20-100(64), 27-60, 72-32), Brijesh Damani bt Lucky Vatnani (Ind) 4-3 (8-127, 68-64, 0-74, 37-50, 58-8, 63-48, 54-20).
