Pooja survives scare

BANGALORE, JANUARY 31: Black, the most valuable colour in snooker. None better to vouch for the importance of potting the black to win a m...

BANGALORE, JANUARY 31: Black, the most valuable colour in snooker. None better to vouch for the importance of potting the black to win a match than Rajasthan8217;s Pooja Golundia, who fought back deficits in both the frames in her Group E encounter against debutante Vidya Pillai of Tamil Nadu on the opening day of the 8th National Women8217;s Snooker Championships at KSBA Hall on Monday.

Down by 15 points in the second frame, having won the first one on black as reflected in the 38-31 score-line, Pooja staged a splendid rally on the colours to curb her rival8217;s hopes of stretching the issue into the third frame. There was a lapse in her concentration during that rally, when she allowed Vidya to pocket the blue, but that was only momentary. And when Vidya squandered an edge of the cushion black pot to the left top pocket, Pooja accepted the opportunity gleefully to seal the match in her favour.

Lying on the other side of the spectrum as Pooja celebrated her 38-31, 54-52 win was the elegant Vidya, a freelancephotographer by profession, for whom the memories of missing the black in both the frames will linger long. Perhaps, it was the hangover of this disappointment that influenced her defeat to Karnataka8217;s Indira Hegde later in the day. Vidya, a pale shadow of her enthusiastic self in the morning, went down 18-52, 28-46.

Meanwhile, fancied players worked their way in the preliminary league notching up easy victories with consummate ease. Defending champion Farah Khan set the ball rolling with a 65-48, 45-29 win against compatriot Asha Wasvani and last year8217;s runner-up Judith Walia, Varsha Mazumdar and Anuj Thakur followed suit.

RESULTS
Group A: Farah Khan Kar bt Asha Wasvani Kar 65-48, 45-29; Kamala Chandrababu TN bt MVJ Fernandes Kar 48-27, 49-38; MVJ Fernandes Kar bt Asha Wasvani 49-21, 36-37, 52-21.
Group B: Judith Walia Kar bt Soumini Srinivas TN 63-20, 77-27; Jagruti Patel Mah bt Renu Bharkatiya MP 35-49, 66-19, 77-28. Renu Bharkatiya MP0 bt Soumini SrinivasTN 48-10, 54-24; Judith Walia Kar bt Jagruti Patel MP 60-21, 49-34.
Group C: Varsha Mazumdar Mah bt Sonal Mamoowala Mah 57-3, 79-38; Ashwini Puranik MP bt Sadhana Patel Kar 66-23, 50-40; Sonal Mamoowala Mah bt Sadhana Patel Kar 47-40, 21-75, 42-38.
Group D: Ritu Srivastava MP bt Nilofer TN 55-25, 51-23; Neeta Sanghvi Mah bt Seema Desai WB 56-24, 24-39, 49-27.
Group E: Pooja Galundia Raj bt Vidya Pillai TN 38-31, 54-52; Sangita Hemchand MP bt Indira Hegde Kar 62-27, 50-20; Indira Hegde Kar bt Vidya Pillai TN 52-18, 46-28.
Group F: Heena Khandelwal Mah bt Chitra Magimairaj Kar 62-25, 51-45; Chitra Magimairaj Kar bt Aditi Puranik MP 45-21, 19-52, 54-40.
Group G: Anuja Thakur bt B Lavanya TN 66-2, 69-9; Usha Khandelwal Mah bt TV Sridevi Kar 27-42, 63-39, 69-23. TV Sridevi Kar bt B Lavanya TN 47-18, 59-10.
Group H: Umadevi Kar bt Meenal Bairagi Mah 14-49, 51-35, 55-44; Umadevi Kar bt BhanumatiK Mendon Kar 60-38, 49-29; Cynthia Mukherjee WB bt R Droupadi Kar 61-63, 54-14, 54-8.