Susantha Boteju retains Pot Black snooker title

P. Rajaratnam in Nuwara Eliya

A colourful fireworks play ushered in the Christmas season and New Year with the annual Jetwing, St. Andrew’s, Hatton National Bank 6 Ball Pot Black snooker tournament which was organised for the second successive year and held recently.

As expected Susantha Boteju of the YMCA retained the title with a comfortable win over S. H. M. Asham of Moors Sports Club with 2 frames to nil.

Jetwing St. Andrew’s possess probably one of the historical famed billiards and snooker tables in Sri Lanka that still maintains its legendary and mystical stories which probably dates back to 1800s where the property was run as a Scots Club by a German national named Mr. Humbert.

This historic table was built by C. Larsurus & Company in India, a well renowned company that dealt with billiards and snooker tables, grand pianos etc, during the colonial period. It is impressive to see that the original condition of the table has been preserved including the ivory dots that surrounded the table.

The Pot Black event was an exciting affair with 88 entries being recorded this year beating last year’s number of 74. There was a strong participation of Nuwara Eliya snooker players which also assisted in harnessing their talents and creating opportunities to compete with national level players.

Last year’s finalist Prasana Pushpakumara of YMBA bowed out to Ashlam while Boteju cleared his path with ease beating Farshad of MICH in the semi-finals. The champion displayed true talent and skill at the event showing a class above the rest at all times.

Plans are underway to bring this event to international standards and invite international players to this event next year.

“We strongly believe considering the historic snooker table that we maintain and the ambience this will truly be an unique snooker tournament on an international arena.

This will in turn assist developing sports tourism in Nuwara Eliya and also create a cascading effect on the local economy, creating opportunities for local players and also highlight Nuwara Eliya as a unique destination which has much to offer,” said Renuke Coswatte, the Manager of Jetwing St. Andrew’s, at the closing ceremony where the Mayor of Nuwara Eliya Chandanalal Karunaratne was the chief guest amidst a distinguished gathering of invitees.