CALCUTTA, January 16: Two professional billiards players will clash for the 64th National Snooker title tomorrow. Both Ashok Shandilya and Devendra Joshi enjoy playing snooker but billiards is their first choice. Yet, the irony lies in the fact that they will grab the spotlight tomorrow, after more accomplished snooker players have been pushed by the wayside."There will be no pressure tomorrow," said Shandilya, after giving the victorious Joshi a bear hug. "Both of us were under-dogs before the championship. There will be a new national snooker champion tomorrow."Rather, a new champion was ensured once the semi-final line-up was drawn itself. The losers today, Alok Kumar and Devender Lilly, are formidable players, but the biggest title in the domestic circuit has been eluding them.Punjab's Lilly, who is a good potter but does little else, stunned pre-tournament favourite Yasin Merchant in a late quarter-final yesterday. In a match of nerves, Lilly won by five frames to four. That must have taken its toll as Lilly was not the same player today. The steely nerves were no longer there and Joshi might have been a little surprised at Lilly's tame submission.Joshi won the cliff-hanger of the first frame 62-61 with a break of 34 in the eighth visit. Although Lilly had a 38 in the second, Joshi clinched the issue with a 14 on the ninth. Lilly restored parity by winning the second frame 85-47, but lost the next three 48-80, 43-71, 44-64 before grabbing the sixth 68-25. Joshi, who conceded 20 negative points in the third game, won it with a magnificent break of 52 with clearance to blue in the 18th visit.
