Ashutosh retains state billiards-snooker double crown

Youth international Ashutosh Padhy retained the double crown by winning both the state senior billiard and snooker titles for second year today. The 23rd edition of the State Billiards & Snooker Championship concluded here at Vintage Club with Ashutosh edging past his mentor Subrat Das in the nail-biting senior snooker final by 6-5 frames.

On his way to the seniro snooker final, local favourite Ashutosh created cuesports history as he became the first cueist from Odisha to post a century break in any recognized snooker tournament in the state. He achieved the feat, hitting a total table-clearance break of 126 against Sarada Behera in a league match.

Earlier, Ashutosh retained the senior billiards title, defeating former champion Subrat Das in the hard-fought final by 4-3 frames. Meanwhile, Rakesh Barik captured the junior billiards title, defeating Soubhagya Behera in the final by 3-0 frames.

Competition in junior billiards category started directly from the semifinal stage as there were only competitors in the fray. Rakesh and Soubhagya set up the title clash, beating Chandra Mohanty and Dipankar Muduli respectively. Champion and runner-up in all three events qualified to represent in the National Snooker and Billiards Championship to be held later. The state championship was organised by Odisha State Billiards & Snooker Association here from November 16.

RESULTS:
Junior billiards: Semifinals:
Rakesh Barik beat Chandra Mohanty (62-11, 59-18, 72-13); Soubhagya Behera beat Dipankar Muduli (67-30, 70-21, 52-11). Final: Rakesh Barik beat Soubhagya Behera (80-73, 52-42, 26-45, 67-44).
Senior billiards: Kunal Agarwal beat Rohit Sharma 3-0 (100-45, 100-24, 100-20); Jiten Sarangi beat Sameer Ali 3-0 (100-52, 100-59, 100-64). Semifinals: Ashutosh Padhy beat Kunal Agarwal 3-1 (100-57, 42-102, 100-22, 100-52); Subrat Das beat Jiten Sarangi 3-0 (100-60, 100-21, 100-26). Final: A Padhy beat S Das 4-3
Senior Snooker: League Matches: Soubhagya Behera beat Akram Khan 2-0, Khalid Sultan beat Satyakam Mohapatra 2-0, Subrat Das beat Khalid Sultan 2-0, Khalid Sultan beat Kunal Agarwal 2-1, Ashutosh Padhy beat Rajat Dhal 2-0, Subrat Das beat Kunal Agarwal 2-0, Biraj Dash beat Amiya Nayak 2-1, Rakesh Pradhan beat Anubhav Agarwal 2-0, Biraj Dash beat Sameer Ali 2-1, Sameer Ali beat Rohit Sharma 2-0, Siddharth Sen beat Satyadeep Das 2-1, Subhranshu Kar beat Jeet Kishore Das 2-1, Akash Mohapatra beat Anubhav Agarwal 2-0, Amit Chaudhury beat Sarada Behera 2-1, Rajar Dhal beat Amit Chaudhury, Subrat Das beat Satyakam Mohapatra 2-0, Ashutosh Padhy beat Amit Chaudhury 2-0, Ashutosh Padhy beat Sarada Behera 2-0, Akash Mohapatra beat Rakesh Pradhan 2-0. Pre-quarterfinals: Subhranshu Kar beat Anuj Panda 3-1, Jeet Kishore Das beat Biraj Das 3-1, Jiten Sarangi beat Khalid Sultan 3-0, Sidharth Sen beat Sameer Ali 3-1, Ashutosh Padhy beat Rakesh Roshan Pradhan 3-1, Soubhagya Behera beat Nishant Biswal 3-1, Subrat Das beat Satyadeep Das 3-0. Quarterfinals: Subrat Das beat Jeet Kishore Das 4-3, Ashutosh Padhy beat Sidharth Sen 4-1, Rajat Dhal beat Soubhagya Behera 4-0, Jiten Sarangi beat Subhranshu Kar 4-3. Semifinals: Subrat Das beat Rajat Dhal 5-0, Ashutosh Padhy beat Jiten Sarangi 5-1. Final: A Padhy beat S Das 6-5.
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PHOTO: Successful cueists (From left) Ashutosh Padhy, Rakesh Barik, Soubhagya Behera and Subrat Das in Bhubaneswar on Nov 26, 2016.

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