Snooker Passion grips Cricket Club of India

It's a week before the big snooker stars will descend on the CCI after their Goa trials for the Rs.5 Lakh prize money snooker event. Till then the hype will surround the prize of Rs.1.47 Lakh collected by members to the first one to hit the dream break of 147. As the lesser lights took centre stage in the qualifying rounds the talk was what if more than one player hit the 147. One view was the first to do so should get it. There were others who would have it shared by all those who did.

The 147 break had no claimants on Monday as the lesser lights found the balls not obeying their command. An exception was veteran Tony Monteiro who come back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 against his 21-year-old student Akief Haveliwala. In his prime Monteiro, now in his 70s, could give 30 snookers if need be and win. Today he added good potting to the cunning snookers.

There was a battle of the sexes thrown in: CCI's vice-chairman Kekoo Nicholson playing India's No 8 ranked woman player Nita Sanghavi. Fortune didn't favour the fair sex, with Kekoo getting a couple of flukes in between some solid shots. Neeta did well to level 1-1 before she lost to Kekoo 3-1. The encounter would stand her in good stead for the trials at Goa where she is headed for on Tuesday along with Sangita Hemchand.

Manish Adnani, the CCI cue sports secretary, didn't quite get his due for winning the Wilson Jones handicap snooker title at the PJ Hindu Gymkhana as the billiards man Devendra Joshi got the limelight. Adnani's problem was different: how to tackle an encounter with 12-year-old Khar Gymkhana lad Ishpreet Singh who he plays on Thursday. The lad came back two down to win his match on Sunday. Self-appointed coach Malcolm Andrade was among those exicted over the lad's success.

The game needs such passion. And the city is lucky there are any number of people with that. Which has resulted in a clutch of events being planned after the ones at Islam Gymkhana__9-ball pool tournaments at two clubs and a city league.

Thankfully the curtain won't fall on cue sports after the CCI spectacular, a mini-national

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Mumbai - Monday 16 February 2009