Pankaj Advani, Amee Kamani defend National 6-Red titles in style
January 23, 2018
CHENNAI: Multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani overcame a few anxious moments to defend his national 6-red snooker title by defeating Kamal Chawla 7-3 (0-65(65), 66-5, 0-66 (45), 40-9, 71-0, 1-50, 42-37, 70(70)-0, 41(41)-1, 49-14) in the final on Saturday.
While Chawla bagged the first frame 65-0, Pankaj rallied back to win the second 66-5. At three frames each, Pankaj broke Chawla’s resistance to surge ahead and clinch the next four frames on the trot to lift his 30th national title.
Pankaj, who has three 6-red national titles, expressed delight at finishing the year on a high. “It was an important tournament as the ranking enables us to represent India in the Asian championship. I’m glad that I did it and won in style,” said Pankaj.
Pankaj accelerated soon after grabbing the lead as he made a phenomenal break of 70 to lead 5-3.
Kamal, who was leading 0-37 in the seventh frame, rued missing out on a great opportunity to upset the defending champion. “I was struggling and it wasn’t easy for me. Both of us got chances and he capitalized on them the most. Safety play is very important against Pankaj, and I could’ve done better,” Kamal added.
Pankaj, Kamal and semifinalists Sourav Kothari and Akshay Kumar have qualified to represent India for Asian 6-red snooker championship to be held next year.
Amee defends her title in women’s category: In the women’s section, Amee Kamani defended her 6- red title beating local girl Vidya Pillai 4-1 in the final. Amee lost the first frame to Vidya and from there on the former came out guns blazing.
Earlier in the semi-final, Pankaj defeated Sourav 6-2, while Kamal edged Akshay 6-5.
Results: Final: Pankaj Advani bt Kamal Chawla 7-3 (0-65(65), 66-5, 0-66(45), 40-9, 71-0, 1-50, 42-37, 70(70)-0, 41(41)-1, 49-14. Semi-final: Kamal Chawla bt Akshay Kumar 6-5 (48-00, 09-48, 15-53, 04-34, 37-40, 62(61)-00, 40-17, 19-52, 68(68)-00, 38-13, 33-13); Pankaj Advani bt Sourav Kothari 6-2 (28-40, 49-00, 09-39, 41-17, 57-47, 38-15, 47(44)-08, 48-21).
