02-Oct-2008 97
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 at Bhubaneswar Club in Bhubaneswar 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.
The match was the first instance in the history of cuesport in Orissa that spectators struggled to watch the proceeding because of space constraint. But those who did, never stopped to express their appreciation for a good putt and regret for a narrow miss.
Despite playing the semifinal and the final in space of five hours, Siddhart showed no sign of tiredness as he raced to a 3-1 lead. But the black ball he be missed in the final frame cost him the match. Sen beat State junior snooker champion Rakesh Roshan Pradhan 4-2 in the second semifinal earlier in the day.
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.
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