Manu Bhaker shot 242.3

CHENNAI: World champion Pankaj Advani successfully defended his national 6-red snooker title by defeating Kamal Chawla 7-3 in the final in Chennai on Saturday. This makes it a total of 30 national titles in his kitty. This is also his third national title, after winning it in 2016 and 2010.“It is great to end the year on a winning note. I felt a bit drained after winning the world championship. It was nice to win the title. It was an important tournament as the ranking enables us to represent India in the Asian championship,’’ said Pankaj Advani after his win.

Kamal Chawla was at one stage going neck to neck with Advani, but couldn’t maintain the tempo. “It wasn’t easy for me. Both of us got chances and Pankaj capitalised on them. Safety play is important against him, and I could’ve done better,’’ said Kamal.In the best of 13 frames final, Kamal opened the match with a break of 65 to take the lead. Pankaj in the next frame levelled it by 1-1. In the third frame, Kamal made a break of 45 to take the lead again by 2-1. Pankaj retaliated by winning the next two consecutive frames to lead by 3-2. Kamal levelled the frames at 3-3 by playing good pots in the frame.In the seventh frame, Pankaj came back to take the lead by 4-3. Pankaj a made a phenomenal break of 70 to lead 5-3, a break of 41 to lead 6-3 and sealed the match with a break of 35.

In the women’s category Amee Kamani defended her 6 red title by defeating local girl Vidya Pillai 4-1. Amee lost only the first frame to Vidya, after that she came all guns blazing to win the next four frames to clinch the title. She also made a highest break of 68 in the tournament.

Results: (all finals): Men: Pankaj
Advani bt Kamal Chawla 7-3 (0-65 (65), 66-5, 0-66 (45), 40-9, 71-0, 1-50, 42-37, 70 (70)-0, 41 (41)-1, 49-14. Women: Amee Kamani bt Viday Pillai 4-1 (24-29, 49-28, 58-0, 45-32, 34-0).

ashok.v@newindianexpress.com