Trichy Tigers edged out strong contender Coimbatore Snooker Kings (CSK) 4-3 to lift the title in the inaugural Snooker Premier League 2014, organised by the Tamil Nadu All Districts Billiards and Snooker Association, at the S.S. Sports Academy here recently.
CSK boasted of a well balanced side and so did Trichy with good all-round players. However, the latter began on a rather shaky note with Vasanth losing the opening singles 0-2 to Naveen. The Tigers quickly fought back through Antony, who easily dispatched Santhosh 2-0.
Sanjeev made it 2-1 for CSK defeating Gajendran 2-0 and Praveen followed it up, winning the billiards clash 265-172 against a fighting Murugan. Just when the tide seemed to sway CSK’s way, Kishore and Perumal and Thirumurugan and Jegan combination brought the Tigers back into the contest winning their respective doubles matches.
In the decisive six red singles, Kaja played to a plan to oust Harish 2-1 for the title.
Trichy Tigers went home richer by Rs. 1 lakh while CSK pocketed Rs. 75,000. Former TNBSA secretary Rajmohan gave away the prizes.
The results (final): Trichy Tigers bt Coimbatore Snooker Kings 4-3 (Vasanth lost to Naveen 0-2; Antony bt Santhosh 2-0; Gajendran lost to Sanjeev 0-2. Billiards: Murugan lost to Praveen 265-172. Doubles: Kishore & Perumal bt Pradeep & Asiq 2-0; Thirumurugan & Jegan bt Manikandan & Senthil Kumar 2-1. Six red singles: Kaja bt Harish 2-1).