Subhash, Bhaskar post wins

Subhash seemed determined to make a very strong bid for the title which has eluded him. He put in a serious effort over the past month and it looked like he has regained the touch he displayed in England three years ago when he won the UK Open tournament.

Though Subhash wasfacing poor opposition from Reilly, he ran up a very nice 316 which terminated with a missed centre-pocket losing hazard. Subhash’s only other noteworthy break in the first session was 93. He was very consistent with his breaks over 70 and 80 in the second session. Towards the end, Subhash had breaks of 170 and 205.

Kothari was in excellent nick and had runs of 105, 152, 246 and 200 in the first session against J Colebrook of Australia. Kothari was very quick to settle on the table and went from strength to strength as his opponent was a mere bystander. The 1990 World champion led 1373-255 at the end of two hours.

Nalin Patel struggled to settle down despite having the advantage of over 10 hours of practice on the match tables. Australian P Formosa put up a stiff resistance with a solitary break of 93 while Patel had a 140 and 96 to lead 613-411 after two hours. I expect Patel to do better when the second session commences later in the night.

Robbie Foldvari, the gritty Australian, started his campaignin fine style, when he beat M Cooke of New Zealand 2087-349. The match was played on the main table, a privilege that goes to the top seed.

Second seeded Paul Mifsud, the former World champion in both billiards and snooker, is determined to make amends here as he had lost to compatriot Joe Grech (who has pulled out) last year in the semi-finals. In his first match, Mifsud settled down immediately with breaks of 68, 73 and 91 for a comfortable lead.

When he saw Millich, the New Zealander, not able to respond strongly, Mifsud played brashly, trying many fancy shots which were thoroughly appreciated by the knowledgeable crowd. He increased the lead with breaks of 150 and 128. But in the second session, he seemed to be in an indifferent form and made only one break of 109, but had many runs over 70 to eventually win 2045-668.

Praput of Thailand, better known for his prowess in snooker, has gone up in my esteem as a billiards player. Playing his first-ever tournament in the three-ball game at this highlevel, he was very casual and ran up breaks of 269, 266 and 109. Praput averaged 40.12 for the first session.