Kothari wins billiards crown

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

Sourav Kothari of ONGC had to play out of his skin to beat a resilient Aditya Mehta of IOCL in the finals to clinch the billiards title at the XIII PSPB Inter-Unit Billiards and Snooker Tournament here today.

Mehta, known more for his snooker prowess, displayed great skills against former Asian billiards champion and world no. 2 Kothari to stretch him to the full length before bowing out 2-3 in the best of five games final. 

World Games gold medalist and only professional snooker player of India, Mehta started the proceeding with a well crafted break of 72 to go 1-0 ahead. 

However, Kothari managed to scrape through 102-96 in a nail-biting second game to draw parity.

An unfinished break of 98 in the third by Kothari was immediately responded by Mehta with a break of 78 in the fourth to set up the final encounter. 

Looking confident in the decider, Mehta started compiling the break with utmost care but  broke down after reaching 54 points. In a now or never situation, Kothari with his vast repertoire of strokes compiled a magnificent break of 88, but missed a sitter white pot and gifted an opening to his opponent. 

An unforced error while on break of 13 though proved costly for Mehta as Kothari thereafter did not make any mistake in compiling the remaining 12 points to win the game and the match 3-2.

Delightful Digvijay

In another sensational display of snooker in the professional category, 14-year-old Digvijay Kadian of ONGC, who had a creditable win against current national champion Ashutosh Padhy of GAIL, continued his good work with yet another commendable  victory against former world billiards champion Rupesh Shah of ONGC with a break of 71 in the fourth frame to set up a semifinal encounter with ONGC’s Sourav Kothari. 

In a best of five frames match, Kadian outwitted Kothari in the first frame to go ahead 1-0. The senior pro though restored parity with a break of 103 in the second. 

Unperturbed by the onslaught, Kadian, who is being mentored by former Asian Billiards and Snooker champion Alok Kumar, showed great composure to steal the third frame to go ahead 2-1. In the fourth game, Kothari with the help of a break of 51 set up the decider. 

The final frame was a battle of attrition in which Kothari managed to prevail only because of his experience as Kadian kept him under pressure all the way with his outstanding potting abilities. 

Kothari will now meet Manan Chandra of BPCL in the finals, who defeated Aditya Mehta in the semifinals. 

In spite of two high breaks of 67 and 106 in the first two frames respectively, Mehta could not hold the fort as Chandra wrapped up the remaining three frames to march into the final.