Sporting Sethi lets semi-final spot pass

Playing with a 120 handicap, Geet Sethi was tied 19-19 at the end of regulation time. Ten minutes were allotted as extra-time.

While playing a shot, Sethi touched a ball which match referee Cardoz failed to notice. Sethi quickly accepted his foul.

“It shows how great he is,” said Shah. “In fact, it a was pleasure playing against Sethi, and I wasn’t expecting to win,” added Shah, who was playing with a 14 handicap.

“I didn’t play my best and was competing in this type of a tournament for the first time. It puts a lot of pressure on theplayer if you have a high handicap but the format is still good. And when I was a commanding position, I could have played a safe shot,” commented Sethi with a smile.

Sethi meant business from the word go and scored 125 (including a handicap of 120) in the third try but thereafter, lost his rhythm. He had couple of long runs over 90 but then paid the penalty with wrong shots.

When four minutes were left, he was calmly poised for a win after Shah missed thrice and Sethi got six points. In his last chance, Shah had a break of seven which evened the scores.

Sethi committed a foul and then another at a crucial juncture which saw Shah sail into the semi-final.

Patel (90) entered semi-final with the tournament’s highest break and took almost half an hour to settle. A break of 62 was enough for him to surpass Puranik. In his break of 62, Patel had a beautiful two cuisine canon (red to white).

Anuja, despite having her annual exams, scored four breaks of 19, 21, 21, 19.