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National Billiards & Snooker Championship 2008 - Indore
Yeshwant Club
Race Course Road - Indore - 452 003 - Madhya Pradesh
Uma Devi
is Indian Billiards Queen
By I.S. Malik
Uma Devi wins National Billiards title after a gap of six years!
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Kanishk Jhanjhariya qualifies at expense of Joshi
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Uma Devi is
Indian Billiards Queen
By I.S. Malik
R. UMA DEVI, the Veteran Lady cueist of Bengaluru, became the new Queen of Indian billiards here on Wednesday at the Yeshwant Club when she downed Chitra Magimairaj of the same city of the state of Karnataka by three games to one by 21-75, 75-60, 76-61 and 76-19 points in the final of the Seniors Lady billiards event of the National billiards & snooker championship 2008.
In the semifinals earlier, Uma Devi beat Meenal Thakur in three straight games by 76-73, 76-45 and 76-15 points while in another semifinal Chitra playing superbly beat Anuja Chandra of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board in straight games too by 75-57, 75-53 and 76-37 points to set up an all Karnatka clash. Later Anuja beat her elder sister, Meenal Thakur in two straight games by 51-41 and 52-48 points in a best of three 50 up games for 3rd and 4th placing match.
The best of five 75 up games Ladies billiards final as expected was a tense affair with both cueists not wanting to lose the all important title fight. That Uma Devi won on this day is a tribute to her fighting spirit and her patience. If Chitra lost it was not because Uma played anything exceptional. Actually, Chitra lost because she wanted this title badly as she has earlier won two Ladies World titles in 2006 & 2007 but the national crown has eluded her grasp. Her cueing arm was very stiff in this encounter unlike the fluency exhibited in her semifinal match with another World ladies champion, Anuja Chandra.
In fact the best billiards player in the Ladies section who had shown her class in her first round match against Neena Praveen in the morning with a flawless unfinished break of 48 in the second 50 up game, Meenal Chandra was a big disappointment as not taking anything away from the credit of Uma Devi who won her semis match with Meenal, it is Meenal who plays the real billiards , effortlessly and in a facile manner which ranks her above any other cueist in the lady’s circuit of this country regardless of the final outcome.
In the Seniors Snooker section of the men, four young cueists stood out with their performances on this day. First, local hope , K. Jhanjaria got the better of Devendra Joshi of the PSPB in five frames by 14-47, 08-77, 77-43, 57-38 and 44-20 points to cause a mild flutter and then in a clash between state mates of Uttar Pradesh, Anuj Bhargava who qualified for the main snooker draw through the qualifying rounds winning four matches beat his state’s snooker champion, Vinayak Agarwal in four frames by 61-24, 40-48, 55-39 and 63-60 points the fourth one on the black decider to make it to the round of last 16 matches.
Then Maharashtra’s Nikhil Ootam got into the act downing Geet Sethi of Gujarat on the black decider in the fifth and final frame by 55-46, 08-63, 72-16, 34-57 and 61-59 points to make the last 32 grade of the snooker knock-out competition starting on Thursday, the 20thday of the 23 days Nationals championship. Geet’s state made and a cueist of potential, the young Raunaq Vazirani was in tremendous form to oust the Veteran Railways cueist, Ashok Shandilya in four frames by 68-56, 01-81, 48-10 and 63-31 points to also qualify for the last 32 stage of the 22 balls championship. With this loss, Shandilya failed to qualify for the knock-out round, The results of the day an ample testimony of the growing youth power in the game of Indian snooker which is a welcome sign which augurs well for the future of the sport.
Uma Devi
wins National Billiards title after a gap of six years!
By Pradeep
Vijayakar
Bridesmaid and not the bride. That was the fate yet again of former world billiards and recent Australian Open champ Chitra Magimairaj who lose her third National billiards final. The world champ of 2006, in an all-Karnataka final at the National Women's Snooker championship at the Yeshwant Club here lost to Uma Devi who won 3-1 (21-75,75-60,76-61,76-19). The only break of note was Chitra's 42 in the opening game.
It was the
third final Chitra lost. In 2005 she lost to Meenal Thakur at Chennai. In
Ahmedabad in 2002 she was beaten again by Uma Devi. Said Chitra, who had upset
the title holder Anuja Chandra in the semis, about the final: "I don't know
what happened, probably the tension of the final. Also the thought of coming
close to my maiden title."
Uma Devi, who works in the Law Department of the Karnataka government, regained the title after six years. This was her fourth final. Asked about the final said: "I played steady in fact yesterday I had a break of 42. Not so today." She added she was playing the same game over the years. Uma avenged the defeat by Chitra in the state open final.
Bangalore girl, Chitra, had beaten Anuja Chandra in the world final and repeated the win against the defending champion in the semi-finals with a 3-0 score line in the best of five match of 75 points each. Anuja's and her sister Meenal Thakur had played last year's final in Hyderabad. Uma had lost to Anuja and Chitra to Meenal, who lost this time to Uma. On Wednesday the sisters disappointed do much that Adi Engineer and 82 years old fan from Mumbai who plays regularly at Willingdon Sports Club and who visits most big events, remarked that they were not even displaying 30 per cent of their wonted game.
Chitra was 2-0 up in no time and Anuja, as if seeing the writing on the wall,
didn't make a match of it. "Just didn't strike the ball well" said Anuja. Uma
Devi too was in the driver's seat against Meenal. Unlike in the earlier rounds
Uma was a tad bit confident and it showed in the clean sweep of the three games
in the best-of-three final. "I couldn't unravel the split of the ball on the
table,'' said Meenal. In the round of eight Chitra had beaten snooker queen
Vidya Pillai.
Kanishk
Jhanjaria qualifies at expenses of Joshi
By Pradeep
Vijayakar
Four billiards maestros had contrasting fortunes on the last day of the league stage in the 75th National Senior Snooker Championship at the Yeshwant Club on Wednesday.
Local lad Kanishk Jhanjariya made the last 32 at the expense of veteran Devendra Joshi whom he beat 3-2 after being 0-2 down. It was the second National in a row Joshi didn't qualify. Jhanjariya, a host association wild card, who finished No 3 in the state, had made it to the last 16 last year before losing to Rupesh Shah.
The 25-year-old MBA student hasn't done much at junior level losing in first or second rounds. People remarked about a certain trembling in his handling of the cue and also in the body. But Kanishk kept his nerve at the crucial time when he was just three points ahead and the colours remained in the decider. National champ ten years ago, Joshi 'sold' the pink courtesy a double-kiss (the balls clashing with each other). The Indore lad got the chance he needed and cleared the colours to make a happy day for the Yeshwant Club where he plays.
Another all-rounder like Joshi to fall by the wayside was Ashok Shandilya, the billiards semi-finalist. The 1999 National snooker champ lost to Raunaq Vazirani of Gujarat 1-3. "Haven't had enough time to prepare because of insufficient leave and practice." Raunaq was a former sub-junior billiards champ. After Joshi and Shandilya a third billiards maestro came a cropper the biggest of them all Geet Sethi, who lost to Maharashtra's Nikhil Ootam. But it didn't matter as Geet had won his earlier two and made it at No 1 from his group along with Ajay Bhushan. For CCI’s Maharashtra champ Ootam it was mixed emotions. He was sorry to go out after beating Sethi but happy to be returning to his wife who last Tuesday delivered twins, a boy and girl!
On the flip side was the fourth billiards player Dhruv Sitwala who has made the finals of three major events, the Scottish, Australian and Austrian Opens, and hitting the highest break. ONGC’s Dhruv won his last match against Md Asim of Railways 3-0 and topped his group.