A consistent Alok Kumar sent Manan Chandra packing in the quarterfinals of the MCC-Kumbhat all-India invitation 6-red snooker championship here on Saturday.
Pankaj Advani was hardly threatened by Brijesh Damani, and neither was Lucky Vatnani by Dharmendra Lilly.
Shivam Arora won his fourth match in a row, quelling the challenge of Kamal Chawla in the other quarterfinal match of the day.
After losing the first frame, Alok Kumar said he had felt Manan would run through the game. However, Manan failed to capitalise on the few chances that came his way, and a grateful Alok made the most of it. “There were at least three or four opportunities which Manan missed. That’s how it goes in this format. You have to take your chances,” Alok said.
Alok had a non-sporting advantage too. “I had a change of spectacles which has helped me sight better. It has been of great help!” he said.
Shivam has been in the zone, of late and he put it down to hunger.
“I had been playing in the billiards premier league [in Mumbai] till late on Thursday. I have been watching almost 10 hours of billiards daily for about eight days, hardly playing for an hour or so,” he explained. “So there has been an unbelievable hunger to stay on the table, and perhaps that has seen me win four matches in a row.”
“This is my first win over Kamal. I have met him about seven or eight times, and every time he has won,” said Shivam.
Shivam attributed the turnaround to positive thinking. “I have been playing well recently thanks to my coach Yasin Merchant who has helped me change my approach, and it has worked wonders. He will certainly be happy about my win today,” he said.
The results: Pankaj Advani bt Brijesh Damani 5-1 (43-9, 1-35, 67-0, 34-16, 60-12, 31-23); Lucky Vatnani bt Dharmendra Lilly 5-1 (0-46, 44-12, 55-8, 39-1, 39-0, 51-6); Shivam Arora bt Kamal Chawla 5-2 (50-0, 0-65, 30-24, 1-37, 41-0, 49-0, 47-0); Alok Kumar bt Manan Chandra 5-1 (0-52, 47-19, 47-0, 39-27, 49-21, 37-0).
