BHUBANESWAR 02-Oct-2008 126
New entrant Rushabh Jain continued his giant-killing run to clinch the senior snooker title in the 14th Visa Steel State Billiards and Snooker Championship, which concluded here at Bhubaneswar Club today. Rushabh, who earlier toppled top seed Subrat Das, trailed 1-3 in the best-of-nine-frame final against former champion Siddharth Sen, but rallied with grit to win the thrilling contest 5-4.
Rushabh thanked Orissa for helping him achieve some success in sports. ``I played competetive snooker in my native city, Mumbai, earlier, but never won any title in a state championship. I am thakkful to Orissa and the fellow cueists here for helping me achieve this success,`` said Rushabh, who studies engineering here.
Kunal Agarwal retained his ‘double’ by defending both the senior and junior billiards titles, while Rakesh Roshan Pradhan retained his junior snooker crown. Title winners in both senior billiards and snooker received a cash award of Rs 5,000 each, while the two runner-ups were given Rs 3,000 each. The junior champions and runner-ups in both the categories became richer by Rs 4,000 and Rs 2,000 each respectively.
Prabir N Singhdeo, Debabrata Choudhury and Rajnish Das gave away the prizes at the closing funciton. The top two finishers in each of the four events qualified to represent Orissa in the National Billiards and Snooker Championship to the held at Indore from Novermber 8.
RESULTS:
Senior snooker: First round: Jenson George bt Satyadeep Das 2-1 (70-32, 3-53, 65-52); Mihir Vora bt Om Parija 2-0 (48-38, 53-47); Sudhir Patnaik bt Avishek Sahu 2-1 (48-55, 47-39, 83-39); Subrat Das bt Sriram Mishra 3-0 (61-30, 61-21, 61-26); Rushav Jain bt Kunal Agarwal 2-0 (67-10, 62-21); Hardeep Singh Saluja bt Nishant Biswal 2-0 (49-27, 66-36); GR Satpathy bt Jenson George 3-2 (38-49, 55-21, 34-22, 20-60, 67-44); Deepak Agarwal bt M K Sultan 2-0 (52-46, 69-13); Amiya Ranjan Nayak bt Govind Sharma 2-1 (28-60, 54-51, 71-20); Kalyan Chhotray bt Nihar Mohanty 2-0 (66-17, 81-38); S P Patnaik bt A Agarwal 2-0 (59-31, 64-15); S R Mishra bt S P Das 2-1 (10-60, 37-35, 66-60). Pre-quarters: Surit Singh bt S Patnaik 3-0 (73-46, 63-51, 73-21); M Vora bt AR Nayak 3-1 (72-39, 39-71, 68-22, 81-42); A Haque bt S P Patnaik 3-0 (87-4, 52-47, 71-29); R Jain bt D Agarwal 3-0 (77-14, 72-29), 68-52); S Sen bt K Chhotray 3-0 (78-6, 69-52, 64-32). Quarterfinals: R Jain bt S Das 3-2 (26-68, 31-66, 59-27, 62-2, 74-68); S Singh bt G R Satpathy 3-0 (60-27, 40-25, 79-15); S Sen bt A Haque 3-2 (24-59, 40-53, 64-40, 71-43, 65-16); RR Pradhan bt M Vora 3-1 (54-31, 60-48, 15-51, 46-28). Semifinals: R Jain bt S Singh 4-1 (100-1, 26-63, 63-13, 66-9, 71-15); S Sen bt RR Pradhan 4-2 (33-82, 64-38, 85-14, 71-47, 22-95, 99-15). Final: R Jain bt S Sen 5-4 (55-66, 28-61, 62-21, 8-81, 65-29, 56-42, 39-68, 73-34, 69-10).
Junior snooker: Pre-quarterfinals: Rakesh Roshan Pradhan bt Shivam Nag 3-0 (78-16, 81-29, 74-34); Mohammad Reza bt Aditya Kothari 3-2 (31-66, 84-20, 55-11, 38-58, 71-20); Jenson George bt Anindya Panda 3-1 (34-27, 50-29, 52-64, 52-46); Kunal Agarwal bt Tanmay Patel 3-0 (75-37, 65-10, 62-15); Govind Singh bt B Chouhan 3-1 (44-51, 61-23, 63-22, 43-32); SP Patnaik bt Nishant Biswal 3-2 (20-55, 27-55, 47-10, 127-4, 62-52); Mihir Vora bt E Rajkiran 3-2 (48-30, 51-40, 33-51, 34-40, 75-30). Quarterfinals: RR Pradhan bt SP Patnaik 3-0 (55-26, 100-16, 55-33); M Reza bt Hardeep Singh Saluja 3-1 (80-10, 63-52, 21-67, 65-20); K Agarwal bt M Vora 3-2 (54-42, 43-68, 36-56, 69-53, 56-54); J George bt G Singh 3-0 (58-38, 71-17, 69-16). Semifinals: RR Pradhan bt M Reza 4-1 (105-17, 43-48, 88-34, 65-15, 80-33); K Agarwal bt J George 4-1 (68-12, 9-73, 83-13, 71-43, 88-47). Final: RR Pradhan bt K Agarwal 4-2 (56-43, 105-16, 23-100, 3-95, 89-31, 62-31).
Senior billiards: First round: Siddharth Sen bt Mehul Rathor 2-0 (150-89, 151-68); Goutam Sahu bt Hardeep Singh Saluja 2-0 (151-109, 151-80); Rakesh Roshan Pradhan bt Rajnish Das 2-1 (150-125, 56-151, 151-129). Quarterfinals: Subrat Das bt RR Pradhan 2-1 (150-52, 148-150, 150-93); Amit Lath bt S Sen 2-0 (150-42, 152-51). Semifinals: Kunal Agarwal bt A Lath 2-1 (96-152, 150-48, 150-68); S Das bt A Haque 2-0 (151-90, 151-127. Final: K Agarwal bt S Das 3-1 (152-120, 151-77, 136-150, 151-33).
Junior billiards: Quarterfinals: Rakesh Roshan Pradhan bt Avilash Mahanda 253-132, Nishant Biswal bt Jenson George 202-134. Semifinals: RR Pradhan bt Hardeep Singh Saluja 408-358, Kunal Agarwal bt Nishant Biswal 689-287. Final: K Agarwal bt RR Pradhan 666-366.
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PHOTO: Medal winners (Left to right) Rakesh Roshan Pradhan, Kunal Agarwal, Rushabh Jain, Siddharth Sen and Subrat Das at the closing function of the 14th Visa Steel State Billiards and Snooker Championship in Bhubaneswar on October 2, 2008.
