Aditya goes down fighting

by Pradeep Vijayakar

India's snooker young gun Aditya Mehta's hopes of emulating Yasin Merchant by reaching the main draw of snooker's professional circuit were dashed when he was beaten 5-1 by UK's Judd Trump in the third round of the qualifiers for the 2008 Royal London Grand Prix at Pontins in England.

Aditya  had his moments when he had break of 61 in the opening frame which he lost 61-63. He had a 61 in the fifth as well. Aditya's 140 remains the highest in the event which has greats like Steve Davis and Alan McManus playing.

The only Indian to have reached the main draw was Yasin Merchant who reached the last 32 on five occasions of five majors, losing to Mark Williams (the then No.1), Ronnie O'Sullivan, Peter Ebdon, Neal Foulds and Mick Price. Yasin, the two-time Asian champ, once reached last the 64. The highest-ranked player that he beat was Joe Swail, who was world ranked 12 at that time. Yasin's highest break in the pro circuit is 142, made in the preliminary rounds of the Embassy World Snooker Championship. He has beaten big names like Mathew Stevens, David Taylor, Alex Higgins, Anthony Hamilton etc. during my stint as a pro.
 

Mumbai:: Thursday 25 September 2008