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Elphinstone Cricket Club Sohrab Gandi & Naval Tata Open Handicap Billiards & Snooker Tournament 2010
08 June 2010
Yasin Supreme! Meenal is Billiards Champion
Twice Asian champion Yasin Merchant escaped to a pulsating 3-2 victory over Rushabh Jain of Dadar Club in a thrilling black-ball finish in the deciding frame to clinch the snooker title, in the All India Sohrab Gandhi Open Handicap Billiards & Naval Tata Open Handicap Snooker Tournament, organised and hosted by Elphinstone Cricket Club, VT, on Wednesday.
Merchant endured a stiff challenge from Jain right through the championship round before snatching the match 110-67, 22-83, 99-67, 17-79, 95-73, 10-80, 79-77 in the best-of-seven frames contest between cueists with different styles.
The victory earned Merchant the Naval Tata Trophy and a winner’s purse of Rs. 25,000. In addition, Merchant also received Rs. 5,000 for the highest break of 103. Jain received Rs. 16,000 as the runner-up.
Merchant entered the final with a huge reputation. He was in full flow as he demonstrated in the earlier rounds especially in the quarter-finals and semi-finals where he fired the big breaks that reflected his fine form. A recipient of two Asian titles, Merchant recently returned from the Asian Championships in Thailand where he finished third.
Such a profile was good enough to make any opponent in handicap snooker wary. But as the high-voltage match reached its climax and Rushabh Jain lost a battle he should have deservingly won for an outstanding effort, he made amends by winning the hearts of a jam packed hall.
Both cueists approached the encounter with caution. Merchant was not the player who was meant to be on a roll, while Jain took it one step at a time. Merchant’s struggle reflected in the innumerable missed pots he endured, some of them absolute sitters.
But Merchant’s experience played a pivotal role against a young opponent he views as state champion material. The match had its fair share of excitement and in the process both players delighted the knowledgeable audience with brilliant snookers and positioning.
After trading three frames each, a surprisingly apprehensive
Merchant was on the brink of seeing the title slip away as Jain,
with a +40 handicap, led 61-28 in the decider. A foul-and-miss on
two occasions soon after by Jain offered Merchant eight crucial
points, and hope. The ace cueist returned to kick off what he hoped to be a big break but to his horror it ended on 30 after missing a simple penultimate red. The break though was significant enough for Merchant to go up 66-61 to set the stage for a humdinger.
Jain potted the red but missed the black while perhaps guilty of playing to the gallery. Merchant sensed his opportunity for a final burst but as he led 66-63 he missed a long yellow pot, one of his many disasters of the evening.
Merchant’s blemish offered Jain a golden opportunity to initiate a clearance and seal the issue. He was at his best while potting from yellow to a brilliant blue that was glued to the top cushion for a 77-66 lead. But with the pink at a distance, staring at the bottom left pocket, though not impossible to pot by a player of his calibre, Jain cracked as his elbow gave way and the ball rolled precariously to the mouth of the bottom right pocket.
It was a gift that Merchant was waiting for as he potted the pink and black with a huge sigh to end Jain’s dream.
National women’s champion Meenal Thakur created history by emerging as the first woman to win a handicap billiards title in the All India Sohrab Gandhi Open Handicap Billiards & Naval Tata Open Handicap Snooker Tournament, organized and hosted by Elphinstone Cricket Club, VT, on Tuesday.
In the billiards tournament revived after a hiatus of 41 years, Thakur of PJ Hindu Gymkhana overcame surprise finalist, marker Manoj Kasare of Khar Gymkhana 300-186 to bag the Sohrab Gandhi Trophy and a purse of Rs.25,000.
The experienced Thakur got off to a shaky start and relied on small breaks to keep pace. Kasare, playing his first major championship round, seemed overawed by the occasion and also endured an indifferent start.
Thakur held a slender 150-135 lead midway through the contest and her fortunes changed here as she thrived on significant breaks of 30s to surge ahead and put the pressure back on Kasare.
Kasare, who received the runner-up purse of Rs.16,000, never really settled down as he offered Thakur chances galore right from the beginning of the contest. It made life easy for Thakur who grabbed them with glee and sealed the issue to stamp her place in history by laying her hands on the trophy last won by Dara Todywalla, way back in 1969, who also struck a remarkable break of 130 on that occasion.
Result Billiards (Final) Meenal Thakur (-30, PJ Hindu Gym) bt Manoj Kasare (+45, Khar Gym) 300-186
Snooker (Final) Yasin Merchant (scr, Khar Gymkhana) bt Rushabh Jain (+40, Dadar Club) 110-67, 22-83, 99-67, 17-79, 95-73, 10-80, 79-77
Highest Breaks Billiards: Arun Agarwal (149) Snooker: Yasin Merchant (103)
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