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Journalism of Courage
The list of disappointments keeps growing for Manan Chandra the latest addition is an early exit from the ongoing mens National Senior Snooker Championship being played in Agra.
One of the favourites to win the title,the second seed Delhi cueist was upset in straight frames by an unheralded IH Manudev from Karnataka. The 28-year-old Chandra,from PSPB,lost to his unseeded opponent 27-82,39-55,55-67 in the Group B encounter on Tuesday. He had his chances,but like on numerous occasions earlier,he squandered them.
In the best of five frames game,the 34-year-old from Karnataka,who hasnt had too many noteworthy performances on the national level in the past,easily pocketed the first. He had a number of close calls subsequently,but held his nerves to see his fancied rival off.
The loss couldnt have come at a worse time for Chandra who is scheduled to participate in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games to be held in Vietnam from October 30 to November 8. Immediately after that he will be playing in the World Snooker Championships to be held in Hyderabad from November 17 – an event where his best happens to be a 3rd place finish in 2006.
On form,though,repeating that seems difficult. He has just a win in a pool championship to show for this year; other than that,he has not even made the final of any snooker championship of consequence,losing to nondescript opponents.
He is a great talent,certainly one of Indias best snooker players. But he is also one of the most inconsistent, says BSFI vice-president Ravi Tandon. One day he beats the best in the business,next day – like today – he can lose to a rank outsider. For a player of his stature,he needs to be a lot more focused. If he can do that,there are few who can match him, added Tandon.
Chandra has himself admitted that he needs to improve on the mental aspect of his game. I need to work on my defensive play and get mentally stronger. I have lost matches which I shouldnt have lost, he had told The Indian Express earlier during the National Carombole Championship in the Capital earlier this year. Even then,he had been the overwhelming favourite but failed to make much headway.
Even in the 2006 worlds,where he made the semi-finals,he lost a final spot from a winning position. I was leading by 48 points in the final break of the semi-final but ultimately lost the match 8-7, he said.
But ,Tandon remains confident of Chandras abilities. It wasnt Manans day today but Im sure hell bounce back soon. There are a few big assignments lined-up such as the Asian indoors and the worlds,and Im hoping hell raise his game, he said.
Meanwhile,there was good news from the Delhi camp with defending champion Keerath Bhandaal retaining both her sub-junior Billiards and Snooker titles that shed won at the Indore Nationals. The 12-year-old student of class eight first won the snooker title,beating I Lahiri of Andhra Pradesh 2-1 (51-57,51-8,45-19). She then thrashed Shireen Limaye of Maharashtra 142-88 points to win the billiards final to register a double.
On Monday,Pushpinder Singh of Delhi lost to Siddarth Parikh of PSPB in five frames (90-10,41-53,65-39,33-64,77-06).
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