Pankaj completes hat-trick of double crowns

It was actually Sourav who began on a high note with a break of 102 to take the first frame. But Pankaj unmindful of the brilliant start by his rival took the next three frames mixing safety play and sound potting very intelligently for a 3-1 lead. Sourav took the fifth but Pankaj returned the compliment by winning the sixth for a 4-2 lead. Then touching his best form,Pankaj came up with a superb 102 break,the second century of the match to consolidate his lead. Sourav had the consolation of taking the next frame but Pankaj sealed victory with a win in the ninth frame.

It was a dream come true for the 30-year-old Maharashtrian lady cueist,Meenal Thakur. Meenal achieved a grand double by adding the ladies snooker crown to her billiards title won earlier.

On Sunday,she beat the defending champion from Tamil Nadu,Vidya Pillai by 75-42,32-68,56-50 and 70-37 points in the best of five frames clash which lasted almost two hours and twenty minutes.

Meenal started the match on a confident note potting the balls in her usual rythmic style to take the first frame but Vidya fought back to take the second and level the scores at 1-1. It was actually the third frame which turned the tide in Meenal’s favour. A blunder on the black at the colours stage in the third saw Meenal pot the black to go 2-1 up and that was enough for her. The fourth was all the way for Meenal as Vidya seemed to just cave in. A nice looking break of 22 sealed the fate of Vidya as Meenal pocketed the fourth frame,title and with it a grand double.

Meenal’s sister,Anuja Chandra of PSPB beat Aranxta Sanchis Maharashtra for the third position winning the best of three match by 71-13 and 82-26 points in a rather comfortable manner.

Earlier,Vidya had defeated Sanchis by 40-60,47-79,58-20,65-20 and 77-28 points in the semi-final match. In the other semi-final played between the sisters,Meenal defeated Anuja by 69-28,15-59,41-50,81-57 and 66-11 points. Salman Khurshid,Union Minister of State for Corporate and Minority Affairs gave away the prizes to the winners.

The Results: Men’s snooker:-

Final: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Sourav Kothari (PSPB): 6-3 (28-111(102),81-16,78-01,84-08,11-78,102-35,152(102)-00,00-98,98(75)-00); 3 & 4 position match: Kamal Chawla (Rly) beat Yasin Merchant (MH): 3-2 (01-79,78-54,04-78,90-06,57-23); Semi-finals: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Yasin Merchant (MH) : 5-0 (108-08,99-00,67-53,78(78)-22,80(76)-63); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) beat Kamal Chawla (Rly): 5-3 (90-67,76-40,30-70,81-34,53-27,00-77,50-71,75-12).

Ladies snooker: Final: Meenal Thakur (Mah) beat Vidya Pillai (TN): 3-2 (75-42,32-68,56-50,70-37);

Semi-finals: Vidya Pillai (TN) beats Aranxta Sanchis (MH): 3-2 (40-60,47-79,58-20,65-20,77-28); Meenal Thakur (MH) beats Anuja Chandra (PSPB): 3-2 (69-28,15-59,41-50,81-57,66-11); 3rd & 4th position match: Anuja Chandra (PSPB) beat Aranxta Sanchis (MH): 2-0 (71-13,82-26).

Ankit,Sara shine

ANKIT Patel of UP Badminton Academy,STC,Sports Authority of India won the junior boys singles and doubles titles and Sara Naqvi of Bareilly won the junior girls singles title in the 5th Raja Lakshmeshwar Singh Memorial UP State Junior & Veteran Badminton Championships held at Basti recently.