Indian snooker team comprising of Alok Kumar, Brijesh Damani and Manan Chandra, winners of the Asian Snooker Championship, pose for a group picture along with runner-up Iran and losing semi-finalists UAE and Afghanistan at Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Hall yesterday. QBSF President, Mohammed Mubarak Al Ramzani, QBSF General Secretary, Mohammad Al Nuaimi, and Mubarak Hamad Al Khayareen, Secretary General of Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS) and other officials were present for the prize distribution. RIGHT: Muhammd Asif from Pakistan, winner of the 6-Red Asian Championship poses with his trophy.
BY ARMSTRONG VAS
Doha: India coasted to an emphatic 3-0 win over Iran to clinch the Asian Snooker Team championship here yesterday.
The Indian team comprising of Alok Kumar, Brijesh Damani and Manan Chandra, which remained unbeaten in the championship, set aside the challenge of Iranian duo comprising of Amir Sarkhosh and Ehsan Heydarinezhad in the title clash.
India began proceedings by winning the first singles, in the race to five final. Chandra won a keenly contested challenge against Sarkhosh, winning 61- 49.
Sarkhosh, who lost the 6-Red Asian individual championship to Pakistan’s Muhammd Asif, gave a tough fight, but in the end, the Indian, who has been in top form, proved too good.
Chandra, who notched the highest break (120) on the first day of the tournament in a league match, kept his cool to pot the last ball to give India a 1-0 lead.
In the second singles, Damani race to a 29-0 lead against Heydarinezhad and went on to pocket a 58-16 win to consolidated the lead.
The Indian pair of Kumar and Chandra ensured that Iran did not make a fight back. The duo won the doubles 63-55 against Sarkhosh and Heydarinezhad to register an easy 3-0 win.
“It feels great to win the title. We were not expecting, actually, to win so comfortably. We thought it will be difficult but in the end we won easily, and we are happy to win it,” Kumar, the senior most member of the team said.
“Manan (Chandra) played exceedingly well. Me (Alok Kumar) and Brijesh (Damani), we were OK. But, we contributed and complimented his (Chandra’s) work,” added Kumar.
The Indians, who struggled on the opening day in the league stage of the tournament, but won their matches by close margins, had a smooth sailing as the tournament progressed.
Chandra said they took time to adjust to the tables at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Hall.
“I think that’s what happens in sport in a big event like this. Even when you are playing badly in a couple of matches, if you take out those matches and win those (matches), it gives you a lot of confidence to go for the tournament. That’s what happened with us,” said Chandra.
“All the other players in the team event has participated in the 6-Red. We were the expectation. We were the only one to have separate players for team championship and 6-Red. We came directly from India. That is one of the reason, we could not play well on the first day. We did not have enough time to adjust to the tables. Playing couple of matches helped and we were comfortable with the tables after the first day,” said Chandra, who won the award for the highest break of the tournament in the team championship.
Laxman Singh Rawat, who lost in the semi-finals to Asif, and Shivam Arora, were the two Indian players who competed in the 6-Red Asian individual championship.
Asked whether the big breaks were planned by him or just came along his way, Chandra said: “Especially when you play in a format like this, you do not go for the breaks, you just ensure that you win the frame and if the balls are positioned nicely and you are playing well, breaks come on its own, you do not plan the breaks.”
Damani, the third member of the winning team, said he stuck to the advice of coach Sanjay Sawant and Kumar.
“I tried to keep it very simple, that is what Alok and Sanjay (coach) told me before the match. My idea was just to ensure that is it one shot at a time and lucky it came through. We all know how Eshan is good as a player; it was nice to win a frame against him
The trio had a word of praise for the organisers, the QBSF.
“The tables have been good and the organising has been great as usual. And, we enjoyed playing here,” said Kumar of the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS) Championship held in Doha.
Earlier, India defeated Afghanistan 3-1 in the semi-finals, while Iran trounced UAE 3-0 in the other last four clash.
The Peninsula
