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This is an archive article published on February 16, 2010

‘The more I play tournaments,the better I get’

A tiny hall with four tables cramped close to each other is not a place where you expect to find Manan Chandra,one of India’s best pool players.

A tiny hall with four tables cramped close to each other is not a place where you expect to find Manan Chandra,one of India’s best pool players. For someone who has played in the finest venues around the country,Manan quickly shut the surroundings out by getting into the zone,while he thrashed Vijay Prajapat 5-1 in the National Pool Championships on Monday.

The cueist who recently took control of the Inter Petroleum Championships,now seeks to clinch his title with an aim to cement his place for the Asian Games to be held in China,later this year. Although the level of the ongoing competition is below Manan’s standard,his commitment to play a positive game was evident while thrashing his opponent. “I think it’s a great platform to nurture my skills. Such tournaments helps you remain focused and helps to improve your touch in the game. Moreover,the more I play,the better it is for me to inch closer towards my aim”,said Manan Chandra.

The Asian championships held at Vietnam in 2009 witnessed a poor show from the Indians in pool,but the contingent did however power to victories in snooker and billiards. “It (the poor outing) is probably we are new to this cue sport and on the other hand,the South Asian countries master pool like we master snooker and billiards. The South Asian giants may be strong on paper but it is not a hard task to defeat them”,added a confident sounding Chandra.

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Foriegn coach will help
Manan further highlighted the advantage of having a foreign coach in the selection camp for the Asian games which could be a great support,as the players would get a better understanding of the game.

This would not only make the players gain the skills but also the tactics that are employed by the better players.

Aiming to claim a medal this year at the Asian Games,Manan seems focused and wants to put up his best to prepare for the challenge. The ongoing national championship is paving a good chance to gain control of his game.

“Since I am defending the pool title,my emphasis would be to clinch the title so that my confidence continues to remain on a high. Eventually confidence will be the major factor in the Asian Games”,Manan added.

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Easy win for Manan
Manan Chandra (PSPB) had an easy win over his opponent Vikas Prajapat,defeating him 5-1 in a six rack match played at the YMCA hall in the National Pool Championship on Monday. In the other matches,Delhi’s Sunny Chaudhary beat Uttar Pradesh’s Sumit Jethi in straight racks 5-0,while Abhimanyu Gandhi of Gujarat won the decider rack against Haryana’s Aman Goel 5-4.

Results : 8-Ball Pool— Akshay Kumar (UP) beat Shobhit Pandey (UP) 5-2,Sukhpreet Singh (PB) beat Mehul Doshi (WB) 5-1,Sahil (PB) beat Ateet Kumar (DEL) 5-2,Avdesh Gupta (GJ) beat Sanjeev Chopra (HR) 5-1,Lalsenzela (MIZ) beat Karan Chhabra (PB) 5-1,V. Anand (KTK) beat Dama (MIZ) 5-3,Hitesh Soni (PB) beat J.R. Pranit (TN) 5-3,Laxman Rawat (DEL) beat Vivek Pathak (DEL) 5-2,Vijay Nichhani (TN) beat Vipin Premi (DEL) 5-3,Ajay Bhushan (DEL) beat Pankush (5-3),K.S. Naveen Kumar (KTK) beat Suraj Singh (UP) 5-2,K. Venkatesham (RLY) beat Akhil Patel (MH) 5-4,Sunny Chaudhary (DEL) beat Sumit Jethi (UP) 5-0,Harpreet Grover (DEL) beat Amit Yadav (PB) 5-2,Faisal Khan (RLY) beat Aneesh Saini 5-3,Arivan Kannan (TN) beat Ankit Shah (WB) 5-4,Navpreet Singh (DEL) beat Arpit Seth (CHD) 5-3,Shivam Arora (BH) beat Abhishek Pittalia 5-2,Abhimanyu Gandhi (GUJ) beat Aman Goel (HR) 5-4.

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