College girl awaits date with Geet

April 8: Anuja Thakur peaked late, but booked her berth in the semi-finals when she scored a 149-31 win over Cyrus Mistry in the second q...

April 8: Anuja Thakur peaked late, but booked her berth in the semi-finals when she scored a 149-31 win over Cyrus Mistry in the second quarter-final of the AR Dias Open Break Billiards Handicap Tournament, sponsored by ATM Shipping, at Catholic Gymkhana today.

In the other quarter-final, Nikhil Ootam suffered a surprise 31-129 defeat at the hands of CS Puranik 129-31.

Anuja is slated to meet current World Champion Geet Sethi, who will play his quarter-final against BK Shah. Unless BK Shah causes an upset, Sethi and Anuja will play the semi-final tomorrow evening.

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Anuja, a first year junior college student of HR Commerce, took almost 20 minutes to get into the groove. Mistry had collected 24 points, and was leading 24-2 at that time.

Then onwards, Anuja, playing with a nine handicap, settled down and had a break of 21. Adding another break of 28, she increased the lead to 55-24.

“I took a little longer to settle but when I got comfortable with the table, the breaks were flowing free,” said Anuja.She added, “It will be the surprise of my career if I get a chance to play Geet. Though I will be nervous, as I will be playing against the World Champion, I will try to relax and perform,” added Anuja.

In the third quarter-final, CS Puranik, playing with a 22 handicap, stormed into the semi-finals, scoring a comfortable win over Nikhil Ootam (18) 129-31. Puranik had a break of 65 and 30.

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Yesterday, Nalin Patel provided the tournament’s highest break, 305, while cruising to a 309-22 win over Mohan Belani.

‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP Brij Lal stops five sanitation workers on road in to quiz them on video

‘Bangladeshis’, ‘ghuspaithiyas’: On camera, BJP MP quizzes 5 sanitation workers

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BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal has sparked controversy with a video accusing five sanitation workers in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension of being Bangladeshi infiltrators. Lal, a former IPS officer, claims to know how terrorism works and alleges that these workers are a threat to the nation. He appeals to CM Yogi Adityanath to deport them and claims they have fake identities.

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