Alok Kumar wins billiards crown

New Delhi, Jan 30: More than once over the past few days, Devendra Joshi had turned in a fine performance in the last half hour and moved ahead in the competition. But in the final, when it mattered most, he failed and allowed Alok Kumar to emerge winner of the National billiards title this evening. Alok, clinching his maiden National crown, won 1184-992 in a final that never really rose above the mediocre. With some confusion regarding the timing of the last session, there were many in the stands who turned up just in time to see the last few seconds.

Alok, who had shown consistency throughout the tournament, won on the same strength. He led the first session of two hours with 534 and was playing on 53 when the session ended. Joshi8217;s score was 462. Slowly but steadily Alok kept increasing his lead which swelled to 200 with about 25 minutes to go. Alok8217;s best breaks were 85 on the 16th, 115 on the 20th, 77 on the 28th, 106 in the 33rd and 69 on the 42nd, while Joshi had 87 in the 9th, 101 in the 19th, 90 inthe 23rd, 70 in 37th and 65 on the 41st visit.

Meanwhile, in the clash for the third place, National snooker champion and Asian Games gold medalist Ashok Shandliya, who lost in the semis to Alok Kumar, beat Mohd Asim of West Bengal 671-441 in a two-hour match.