DOUBLE NATIONAL TITLES FOR ADVANI, KAMANI

DOUBLE NATIONAL TITLES FOR ADVANI, KAMANI PUNE Pankaj Advani was flawless in the final senior snooker as he blanked Railway cueist Panduranga in the Manisha National Billiards and Snooker Championship at PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Thursday. Panduranga had raised expectations (उम्मीदों) beating strong opponents (विरोधियों) like Malkeet Singh in semis and Arvind Kumar in the

quarterfinals. However in the summit clash, he hardly managed to create any difficulties for Pankaj, except the second frame. The multiple time world champion was at his best and dominated the final with several 50plus breaks. The score read 83 (50) – 1, 52- 34, 76 (75) – 0, 65 (64) – 18, 82 (50) – 25, 79 (78) – 28. This is Pankaj’s third title after his recent 6- red national snooker title in Mumbai. Madhya Pradesh’s Amee Kamani, who was runners-up last year, defeated local challenger Arantxa Sanchis 4-2 to win women’s snooker title. This is her second title in this tournament and third title this year. In January, she won national 6-red championship in Mumbai. In Pune, she clinched her maiden senior billiards title beating Karnataka’s Varsha Sanjeev. Even in snooker she proved better that Varsha and with a 3-1win over her Karnataka opponent, Amee had entered final. In the summit clash(संघर्ष) , she registered 43-52, 79-40, 71-28, 38-48, 72 (47)-19, 54-34 win over Arantxa.

“I am happy with this double crown(ताज) . The opponents were tough and every frame was challenging,” said Amee, who trains in Indore.