Pankaj Advani claimed his 20th National title on Monday when he beat West Bengal’s Brijesh Damani 8-7 in the inaugural Six-red Snooker National Championship here on Tuesday.
This win could have slipped out of Advani’s grasp. Damani was no pushover. He tested his illustrious opponent to the limit in each frame. For a first-time finalist Damani was proving to be a thorn in the flesh. Advani was up to the challenge. He banked on his superior skill and nerves of steel to get the better of Damani.
What was supposed to be a one-sided affair went on to become a thriller with no clear winner emerging till the final frame of the best-of-15 frames. Advani took an early lead by winning four frames to one with a fascinating clearance from four loose reds that were sliced onto the top right pocket in the first session.
Damani played an attacking game and made a confident comeback in the sixth frame. Damani came up with potential breaks in the following three frames to equal scores with Advani. By the end of 11th frame, to everyone’s surprise, Damani was leading 6-5.
“I felt no pressure in the final mostly because I was a surprise finalist. Even my dad didn’t expect me to come this far. But this whole tournament has boosted my confidence,” said Damani, who recently won the Asian Indoor Games gold in the snooker team event.
Advani, with his tactful skills, equalled scores in the 12th frame but a gritty Damani was not willing to give up. Under pressure Damani created breaks of 38 and 27 to win the frame 65-11.
Advani eventually drew the scores in the penultimate frame before
ending the match in his favour.
On winning the newest format introduced in India, Advani said, “This was one of the toughest matches of the tournament. I am glad I’ve proved myself by winning this format too.”
For the third position, Kamal Chawla beat Manan Chandra 40-36, 00-42, 16-45, 42-18, 42-26, 00-45, 51-18.
Results: Final: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Brijesh Damani (WB) 8-7 (25-54, 51 (38)-00, 43-09, 60 (60)-01, 29-05, 00-69 (69), 36 (25)-33, 30-38, 31-35, 08-33, 06-48 (43), 47-19, 11-65 (27), 48 (39)-02, 33-02).
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