|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 21 November 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Samarawickrema loses two games Bernard Perera reporting from Hyderabad India, Thursday - Naresh Samarawickrema who faced two tough opponents in group H of the 34th IBSF World Billiard Championship here yesterday lost to Gary Oliver of New Zealand 3 sets to nil and later in the evening to Paul Bennet of England also with the same margin. Naresh was in good touch in the first set of the first match losing his it in a closely contested one at cue stage when he had a good break of 46 points went ahead but New Zealander on his next visit notched up a 60 point break to outclass the Lankan and took the lead. He went into win the set at 151-128. In the second set it the Kiwi who ran up scores to keep Naresh at bay in every visit though he did not have big scores. Naresh could not get close to him at any stage of this set and lost the set at 150-28. Naresh did little bit better in the third set scoring 89 points to Oliver's 150. Here too Oliver could not collect big one's but managed to keep his lead intact until the end to wrap up the set and the match 3-0. In his second match later Naresh could not match England's Paul Bennet. Bennet a professional never faced problems from the Lankan who is making his debut at top level. Bennet completed the first in only seven visits with two half century breaks. In this set Naresh was allowed to score only 19 points. Bennet who is in top form at present on his first visit in the second set, setup a huge total of 75 points. Spectators were of the view that he could finish the set in this visit but a slight miscalculation deprived him of this opportunity. Again on his fourth visit Bennet with a 62 unfinished break closed the set to take a firm lead of 2 sets to nil. Naresh's collection being only a meagre 10 points. Bennet never allowed Naresh to take control of the game and got off to a flying start in the third set making 30. Naresh faultered on many occasions gave the high riding Englander the chance to move ahead with scores of 35 and an unbeaten 60 unfinished break which also sealed victory for him while had a score of 25 at this stage. Naresh though losing all four gams so far managed to win two sets against tough opposition. Meanwhile the top seed in the tournament Geet Sethi of India had to battle hard to keep his hopes alive playing against Myanmar's U. Kuaw O0 when he beat him 3 sets to 2. Kuaw took the first set at 154-134. Never say Indian Sethi using all his skills and experience grabbed the second set 152 to 134 which levelled the game. Top ranker at ease at this stage and continued comfortably making a 91 point break in his second visit. He collected his through classy top table play. His third visit was not productive, but opponent made a big come back in this visit scoring 49, but this was sufficient to put a halt to Sethi as he cracked an unfinished break worth 61 to complete the set and to get a 2-1 lead. Sethi took things easy but not the Myanmar's Kuaw. He kept the pressure mounting on Sethi. He gave no room to his opponent to score for his liking and halted him at 58 points. Kuaw with few good breaks of 37, 34, 40 kept going ahead of the Indian and made the set in favour of him and equalised the game. This kept the onlookers spellbound as the host country's top contender was facing an uphill task against an opponent not ranked in this championship. The parlour was silenced when Kuaw got off to a fine lead with a 99 break in his fifth visit to the table. Sethi was confused and was on 17. Kuaw's miscalculation at this gave the Indian to make a great comeback with two good knocks of 75 and an unfinished final break of 44 to turn the match towards him 152-135. Meanwhile yesterday three more Indian Siddharath Parikh, Ashok Sandilya and Devendra Joshi kept their flag flying with good wins. The only Indian lose on this day was Risha Thakkar who lost to Thailand's Praput Chathankusun 3-0. Today Naresh Samarawickrama play his final match in Group G. The 34th IBSF World Billiard Championship is sponsored by Vijai Electricals Ltd and is organised by Hyderabad Billiard and Snooker Association. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
