Geet, set, encore

8220;I wouldn8217;t rate it as a memorable win primarily because I wasn8217;t playing as well as I expected. But in the end I could manage to keep Chapman down,8221; said Sethi after the match.

It was a rather dull start by the Indian ace as he laboured his way through the first session of the four-hour tie. 8220;My game was rather patchy at the beginning. Not exactly entertaining billiards but match-winning nevertheless,8221; opined the World No 2.

While Sethi struggled, a break of 103 on his fourth visit, followed by a 216 on the ninth put Chapman ahead. Chapman had lost the title in a close match last year and was looking to avenge the loss. 8220;I had my chancesearly in the game but failed to capitalise on them,8221; said Chapman. 8220;It was doubly disappointing losing again after coming so close but I have myself to blame.8221; Towards the end of the first session, Sethi crept his way into the game with consistent breaks of 82 and 97. He too matched Chapman8217;s double century with a break of 221 and an unfinished 92 to move ahead with scores of 653-426 on the board at the end of the first half.

In the next session too, Chapman8217;s brilliance emerged. But it came in spurts and was not enough to catch up with Sethi.

The former World Champion Sethi reached four figures with a century break of 109 which put the pressure further on his rival. 8220;I was a bit tense before the match. And with Roxton taking the early charge the pressure was on me.

But I kept telling myself that I can do it and waited for my chance. Roxton is a very good player and you never know what he has up his sleeve,8221; revealed Sethi.

Chapman hinted at a late fightback with century breaks of 111 and 128 onhis 27th and 28th visit but faded after that to settle for the runners-up cheque of Rs 23,000.

Incidentally Sethi also won an additional Rs 5,000 for the highest break in the tournament. His prize-winning break of 389 came in the league match versus Raju Jagtiani.

SNOOKER: The focus now shifts to the snooker final as Indian ace Yasin Merchant and the effervescent Ashok Shandilya meet in the summit clash. Merchant, who has had smooth sailing in the tournament till now, looks all set for the crown he lost to Sonic Multani last year. The latter had been the snooker champion here for the last three years but surprisingly withdrew this time.

Shandilya also looks good for the crown after a much better showing this year. Last year he was ousted in the quarter-finals by Alok Kumar who pulled out mid-way through this year8217;s tournament because of personal reasons.

RESULT Final: Geet Sethi bt Roxton Chapman 1388-844.

SETHI8217;S VICTORY MARCH
League: Bt Michael Ferreira 782-482, btRupesh Shah 610-478, bt Raju Jagtiani 858-433, bt Nalin Patel 994-368
Quarter-finals: Bt Subhash Agrawal 1054-964
Semi-finals: Bt Ashok Shandilya 1222-760