Indian Oil’s Brijesh Damani and Sparsh Pherwani gave a thrilling finish to the individual snooker final of the BPCL 14th PSPB inter-unit billiards and snooker tournament on Saturday.
For a little over two hours, seasoned campaigner Damani and the young and ambitious top India junior Pherwani held their nerves, but eventually it was a youth who tasted success.
Even in closing seconds it appeared that Damani was in full control of the situation, but missed the last pink positioned close to the cushion and once the ball rebounded, he signalled the end of the match, scattering the pink and black with his cue. Pherwani won 64-24, 61-52, 54-66, 14-57, 72-62.
Initially Pherwani capitalised on Damani’s mistakes in the first two frames. Damani’s lapse while attempting to pot the red on a number of occasions resulted in leaving Pherwani in good positions to score.
The match could have ended 3-0 in the best-of-five-frames final when Damani missed the black on spot after he had actually run up a small break, but he got a second chance which he converted to take his first game.
Pherwani, who on occasions excelled in long potting, lagged behind making errors, and dropped the fourth. He regained control, leading 36-0 in the decider and Damani needed three snookers to stay alive. and he got 14 points on the black. A foul shot by Pherwani brought Damani back in contention, but with the last two balls on the table, he slipped on the pink.
Recruited under Indian Oil’s scholarship scheme last year, Pherwani, according to the discerning cue sport watchers, is the most improved player. It was his first PSPB event and he won it.
The results: Snooker Open, final: Sparsh Pherwani (IOC) bt Brijesh Damani (IOC) 64-24, 61-52, 54-66, 14-57, 72-62.
Third place: S. Shrikrishna (BPCL) bt Rupesh Shah (ONGC) 73-1, 61-16,8-58, 64-32.
Semifinals: Damani bt Rupesh 75-13, 82-1, 73-40; Pherwani bt Shrikrishna 80-6, 16-69, 65-13, 36-58, 76-56).
