Geet on song, in quarters

The Geet Sethi-Devendra Joshi clash among the last group matches of the Asian billiards championship had the crowds thronging in. Though Set...

The Geet Sethi-Devendra Joshi clash among the last group matches of the Asian billiards championship had the crowds thronging in. Though Sethi won 3-1, the packed Hindu Gymkhana hall was witness to the rise in the standard of play.

While 2002 World and Asian champion Ashok Shandilya ruthlessly brushed past 1999 world champion Chaithanasakun Praput 3-0, Kyaw Oo of Myanmar inflicted his second win over Pankaj Advani in as many matches in his career.

Ashok’s win condemned Praput to the third place where he will now compete in another round robin for the other third place finishers in the three groups — Bhalchandra Bhaskar and S Thawat (Thailand).

With six quarterfinalists decided, the revised seedings saw Sethi take the pride of place. Down 24-37, Sethi had a break of 46 on the fifth visit before Joshi got a chance. Joshi failed to latch onto it and Sethi promptly punished him taking the frame. If Joshi replied in the second with a 93 break to restore parity, Sethi was upto the task uncorking an unfinished 101 break.

Kyaw Oo, after his win over Advani, is the second seed and with Aung seeded fifth, Myanmar has all the scope to leave a lasting impression. While Shandilya could afford to win with a cushion of losing one frame, the affable player ensured he rode his way to top the group in style. Advani got his chances but was not able to capitalise on them.

PLAYER OF THE DAY

It went down to the wire and Thailand’s Praput Chaithanasakun emerged out of it, shaken and stirred, as the winner of the Group C clash against Myanmar’s national champion Aung San Oo. Aung may not have the experience but displayed his fighting spirit to recover from a 0-2 deficit in the five-frame match to lead 78-62 in the decider.

Unable to play the nursery canons with the finesse that Praput could play, Aung took his time for his shots, slowly and steadily, charting his revival. Playing with the white, Aung was almost stuck with the yellow and the red slightly behind. The masse shot just missed the red by a whisker and Praput tightened up the noose promptly.