Farah swings into semis

BANGALORE, FEB 5: Defending champion Farah Khan of Karnataka defeated Kamala Chandra Babu of Tamil Nadu in the eighth women's National bil...

BANGALORE, FEB 5: Defending champion Farah Khan of Karnataka defeated Kamala Chandra Babu of Tamil Nadu in the eighth women8217;s National billiards championship on Saturday.

Farah pipped Kamala 143-68, 107-75, 162-64 and will meet Anuja Thakur of Maharasthra, who drubbed Lakshmi Suryanarayanan of Karnataka 100-74, 136-66, 133-88.

In other quarter-final matches, Meenal Bairagi of Maharashtra beat Pooja Galundia 129-34, 114-53, 157-67. Meenal will meet Uma Devi of Karnataka, who dropped a game against state-mate T V Sridevi before winning 107-42, 99-45, 77-113, 102-55.

Earlier, with less than a minute left on the clock in the decider, Sridevi came up with a skew-back canon that gave her a 64-63 lead in the pre-quarterfinal against MP8217;s Ashwini Puranik. And even as she was heaving a sigh of relief about the lead, the bell tolled to signal the end of the match. Sridevi won the match 117-64, 71-76, 64-63 to enter the last eight stage.

That the match stretched into the third 30-minutes itself was of Sridevi8217;sown making. The Karnataka lass began well, compiling breaks of 23 on her third visit and 27 on her 10th to win the first frame at a lop-sided 117-64. But there ended her dominance of the proceedings.

It was not that Ashwini came up with any great billiards but Sridevi8217;s form took an awful dip after the first frame. The potting was woeful as was her positioning and planning. It was lack of planning that led to her downfall in the second frame.

RESULTS
Quarter finals: Farah Khan Kar bt Kamal C Babu TN 143-68, 107-75, 162-64; Anuja Thakur Mah bt Lakshmi Suryanarayanan Kar 100-74, 136-66, 133-88; Meenal Bairagi Mah bt Pooja Galundia Raj 129-34, 114-53, 157-67; Uma Devi Kar bt T V Sridevi Kar 107-42, 99-45, 77-113, 102-55.

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Pre-quarter finals: Lakshmi Surayanaranan Kar bt MVJ Fernandes Kar 82-69, 95-45; Anuja Thakur Mah bt Soumini Srinivas TN 129-70, 104-45; Farah Khan Kar bt Judith Walia Kar 156-64, 140-71; Kamala Chandra Babu TN bt Sadhana Patel Kar65-33; 74-34; Pooja Galundia Raj bt Ritu Srivastava MP 123-21, 111-38; Meenal Bairagi Mah bt Renu Bharaktiya MP 102-57, 101-74; Umadevi Karw/o Usha Khandelwal Mah; TV Sridevi Kar bt Ashwini Puranik MP 117-64, 71-76, 64-63.

Preliminary league
Group F: Pooja Galundia bt Chitra Magimairaj Kar 55-91, 105-80, 105-62. Group G: Umadevi Kar bt Aditi Puranik MP 98-27, 81-51; MVJ Fernandes Kar bt Nilofer TN 50-39, 86-57.
Group H: B Lavanya TN w/o Anjali Sengupta Mah; Kamala Chandra Babu TN bt TV Sridevi Kar 90-67, 84-113, 74-68.