Shandilya claims title

Sethi was billed to win the title after his remarkable recovery during the tournament, particularly after he lost his opening game on the first day. Even yesterday, he struggled initially but staged a fine comeback when he defeated Siddharth Anand for a place in the final.

But Sethi was somewhat off colour today and failed to raise his game to the spectators’ expectations. He lost to the eventual champion Shandilya with three racks still to go.

But unlike Sethi, Shandilya was in great form right from the beginning. In fact, he started with a win pocketing the balls with considerable ease and as the game went on it became quite evident who the winner would be. Sethi not only made some mistakes but also found the going tough as he missed some easy potting. Shandilya, on the other hand, mounted the pressure with accurate potting vists after vists.

This is the first-ever major Pool tournament being held in the Capital. It is being conducted as a preparation for the Asian Games in Bangkok in December this year The billiards pool event has been included as a competitive discipline in the Asian Games at Bangkok in December this year.

There will be as many as 12 medals at stake for the Pool game (nine ball Pool Single and nine ball Pool Double.