Natasha Chethan held her nerve to overcome Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul in the final of the IBSF World under-21 women’s snooker championship at KSBA here on Wednesday.
Home favourite Natasha, who claimed her first World title, prevailed in a scrappy encounter dominated by long phases of safety play.
The match came down to the deciding fifth frame, when Natasha moved five points ahead by potting the brown and blue. The Bengaluru teenager took on the double for the pink, but missed the shot.
Narucha fluffed a regulation pot on the pink, and sank to the ground in despair. Natasha was thrilled to be back on the table to wrap up the match.
“I prayed to all the Gods, and my prayers were answered,” Natasha said on the tense finish.
The big occasion, in general, stifled both players’ attacking instincts. Potting, break building and positional play took a back seat. The slow burner lasted three hours and 40 minutes.
Narucha had made a bright start to the outing, recording a sharp 31-break to take the first frame.
Under-21 results: Women: Final: Natasha Chethan bt Narucha Phoemphul (Tha) 21-67, 60-41, 67-45, 10-81, 45-34.
Men: Group stage: Aarav Sancheti bt Bhavya Pipaliya 80-26, 56-62, 89-50, 31-54, 83-64; Seyed Arsalan Bagheri (Irn) bt Rahul Williams 25-61, 60-61, 77-22, 86-1, 76-4; Joel Fandrei (Ger) bt Zubin Zaheer 0-91, 60-36, 75-47, 77-48; Ranveer Duggal bt Shahin Sabzi (Irn) 59-55, 13-52, 17-50, 73-50, 62-21; Zac Cosker (Wal) bt Sham Alwin 81-2, 106-18, 77-18.
