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The Indian trio of Manan Chandra, Alok Kumar and Brijesh Damani blanked Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh and Ehsan Heydarinezhad to win the Asian Snooker Team Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall yesterday. |
Chandra continued his impressive form beating the Asian 6-Red finalist Sarkhosh 61-49 in the opening frame of the final yesterday evening.
Next up, Damani downed Heydarinezhad in tricky match even as the scoreline of 58-16 suggested otherwise.
Chandra, along with Kumar, then wrapped up the proceedings with a 63-55 win in the third frame to lift the team championship.
“It feels great,” said Kumar after the match. “We were not expecting that we will win so comfortably. We thought we had a chance but it came rather easily. We are very happy about it.
“Manan played exceedingly well, and me and Brijesh contributed and complemented him.”
Apart from the team trophy the trio lifted, Chandra was also awarded for the highest break in the tournament — 120, in the round-robin match against Singapore on the inaugural day of the team championship. “When you play this kind of a format, you don’t go for the breaks, you just want to make sure that you win the frame. But if the balls are positioned nicely and you are playing well, it happens, you know a break happens on its own. You can’t plan it,” Chandra said.
India’s start to the tournament was not as comfortable as the final, with both Saudi Arabia and Singapore running them close with the scorelines of 3-2.
“I think that’s what happens in sport in a big event like this. Even when you are playing badly in the first couple of matches, if you are able to take out those matches, it gives you a lot of confidence when you go further in the tournament. That’s what happened with us,” Chandra explained. “Also, most players who played in the team tournament had played in the 6-Red. But we had not done that. Those players had gotten used to the way the table was playing, etc.”
“After we played a couple of matches, we were very comfortable playing on those tables. I think that helped,” Damani added.
Mohamed Asif with Asian
Kumar added: “Frankly, the tables, the conditions, the way it was organised, it was all really great.”
Earlier in the day, Iran had blanked United Arab Emirates (UAE), while India beat Afghanistan 3-1 in the semi-finals.
For Qatar, hosting the Asian Snooker Team and 6-Red Championship was an encouragement, the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation president Mohamed Mubarak al-Ramzani said.
“Everyone has said that they have liked the tournament and playing here. So as someone who is in-charge of the tournament, I am happy. Except I feel bad about our team not being able to qualify for the final. We lost in the quarterfinals, both in 6-Red and in team championships,” al-Ramzani said.
“We were also a bit unlucky. In the team championship, we were in the same group as India. After the last round-robin match, which Qatar A lost against India, we were drawn to play them again in the quarterfinal. And there were just two hours in between.
“We have played 15 Red all along and so it was difficult for our players to play in the 6-Red. But, Inshaallah, in future, we have lots to learn. We have to keep practicing.
“Also 6-Red is a very difficult game. There is no cover for you if you make a mistake. If the opponent goes 20 points ahead of you, you mostly don’t get another chance to get back.”
Present at the prize distribution ceremony, in which both the 6-Red and Team Championship winners were awarded, along with al-Ramzani was Nasser Jeham al-Kuwari, the general manager of Qatar Fuel Additives Company (QAFAC), the sponsors of the event.
