Manan Chandra held his nerve in the deciding frame to post a 31-91, 112-1, 17-59, 28-52, 86-24, 69-42, 58-26 victory over Philippines’s Alvin Barbero at the IBSF World snooker championship here on Thursday.
The match — a scrappy affair where neither player could find any rhythm — was locked at 3-3, before Manan finally came into his own. He pulled ahead in the final frame with a 27-break, and did a Houdini act when Barbero attempted to close the gap.
Missed potADVERTISEMENT
Up 36-26, the Indian served a marvellous snook by resting the cue ball between the green and the top rail. Both players then battled for the final red, and a missed pot from Barbero sold the red at the centre pocket.
Manan obliged, and after a brief tussle for the brown, Barbero threw in the towel. The 33-year-old Delhi cueist — the 2013 national champion — now has two straight wins in Group ‘G’.
“Barbero played slower than most players I have competed against and that threw me off. Neither of us could find any real form. When I was trailing 1-3, I decided to play my natural game and relieve the pressure. In the end, it was those small 15-30 breaks which made the difference,” Chandra, a wild card entrant, said.
ADVERTISEMENT
A fluent Kamal Chawla raced to his second win as well, taking out UAE’s Marwan Alfalasi 97-0, 97-0, 76-41, 23-69, 77-01. He did go down in the fourth frame — the only blip in an otherwise impressive performance.
Local favourite Pankaj Advani proved too good for Hong Kong’s Chi Wai Au, and motored along to a 99-24, 67-39, 65-0, 84-45 victory.
The leading Indian women’s players — Neena Praveen, Amee Kamani, Vidya Pillai and Chitra Magimairaj — extended their all-win records in their respective groups.
Important results:
Men: Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Marwan Alfalasi (UAE) 97-0, 97-0, 76-41, 23-69, 77-01; Kritsanut Lertattayathorn (Tha) bt Hatem Yaseen (Egy) 113-08, 11-66, 70-06, 60-02, 87-01; Michael Collumb (Sco) bt Varun Madan (Ind) 29-80, 107-09, 89-00, 62-42, 71-57; Gary Thomson (Sco) bt Laxman Rawat (Ind) 66-12, 86-27, 10-71, 53-42, 26-58, 20-80, 62-16; Ali Alobaidli (Qat) bt Divya Sharma (Ind) 61-36, 0-74, 42-63, 43-69, 53-14, 67-38, 65-23.
Keen Hoo Moh (Mas) bt Mike Toth (Swi) 72-35, 74-16, 69-08, 69-20; Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Chi Wai Au (HK) 99-24, 67-39, 65-0, 84-45; Manan Chandra (Ind) bt Alvin Barbero (Phi) 31-91, 112-1, 17-59, 28-52, 86-24, 69-42, 58-26.
Women: Neena Praveen (Ind) bt Claudia Zardo Cordeiro (Bra) 70-15, 27-43, 58-15, 71-25; Amee Kamani (Ind) bt Alexandra Teramoto Miyuki (Bra) 74-10, 44-35, 67-27; Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Kathy Parashis (Aus) 71-35, 75-15, 77-44.
Vidya Pillai (Ind) bt Fernanda Irineu (Bra) 65-26, 100-14 , 85-13; Ka Kai Wan (HK) bt Meenal Thakur (Ind) 51-59, 60-51, 56-26, 45-17; Floriza Andal (Phi) bt Bussanich Suzanne (Aus) 56-40, 86-38, 68-40.
Jessica Woods (Aus) bt Denise Santos (Phi) 44-32, 21-70, 58-22, 55-43; Chitra Magimairaj (Ind) bt Carmelita Yumito (Bra) 51-16, 49-70, 60-18, 76-8; Tatjana Vasiljeva (Lat) bt Varshaa Sanjeev (Ind) 61-18, 62-29, 59-58.