But with fewer red balls on the table and rules akin to pool, the buzz around the Karnataka State Billiards Association Hall is that the inaugural National 6-red snooker championship could spring far more surprises than expected when the tournament proper gets under way on Tuesday.
While there is no doubt that reigning National snooker and billiards champion Advani will be the cynosure of all eyes, his run to the finish will be tested by the likes of fellow seeded players Sourav Kothari, Rupesh Shah, Dhruv Sitwala and veteran BV Srinivas Murthy during the knockout phase. As a matter of fact, the seeded players themselves could be challenged in the league phase by amateurs capable of producing a decent performance. For the record, players will begin a frame with just six reds -- as opposed 15 reds -- and the six colour balls. Safety play is severely restricted and a foul could gift the opponent a ‘hand ball’ wherein he can position the cue ball within the ‘D’.
“It is really tricky,” said Bangalore’s Hariharan KB after his qualifying round victory over Mazar Kamal. “A player who can pot an average of 30-35 points on one visit can easily pocket the frame. Unlike the longer version, there are fewer balls on the table. This means lesser traffic and easier navigation. “Morever, the rules limit ‘snooker’ opportunities, laying more emphasis on potting. All you need is one good break in every frame. I am sure amateurs like me will look forward with confidence to playing the seasoned pros,” added the 19-year-old.
However, on the flip side, the amateurs could go easily punished. Pros are expected to establish a break of 35-40 and on doing so they could easily walk away winners without breaking sweat. “The tournament will definitely be exciting,” said veteran Murthy. “First of all, it is a new concept. Secondly, with just 75 points on offer, the gap between a good and an excellent player will be bridged.”
Results (final qualifying round): Abhishek Saporkar (Mah) w/o Anuj Bhargva (UP); Akshay Kumar (Del) bt Mudabbir Ahmed (Kar) 4-2; Kankan Shamshi (UP) bt Siddharth (Kar) 4-0; Shashank Gupta (MP) w/o Sunil Sharma (Kar); Pushpinder Singh (Del) bt Arun (TN) 4-0; Pranav Jain (TN) bt V Anand (Kar) 4-1; Sidharth Parekh (Rlys) w/o Ramesh Muddareddy (Kar); Vasanth D (Kar) bt Shakeel Ahmed (WB) 4-2; Rishab Pandya (Mah) bt Md Arshad (Kar) 4-1; J Varun Kumar bt Jayakrishna R (Kar) 4-1; Shravan Mohta (PSPB) bt Tulsik Thukral (Del) 4-0; Vijay Nichani (TN) bt Jasim Tawin (Kar) 4-2; Joginder Singh (Kar) bt Anand HE (Kar) 4-3; Ravi Shankar (AP) w/o Venkatesham (Rlys); Brijesh Damani (WB) bt Lalit Dahiya 4-0; Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Salil Deshpande (Mah) 4-0; Madhu Chandra (Kar) bt Vishal Malhothra (Mah) 4-0; Manoj MK (TN) bt Vijay Goklaney (Kar) 4-0; TV Rajiv (AP) bt Anthony (TN) 4-1; Divya Sharma w/o MC Manoj (TN); Ajay Bhushan bt M Sujith Kumar 4-1; Laxman Rawat (Del) bt Adil Sherazi (Kar) 4-1; KS Naveen Kumar (Kar) bt Md Shoiab Khan (WB) 4-1; Hariharan KB (Kar) bt Mazar Kamal (TN) 4-0; Prashanth Shinde (MP) bt Rajeb Shah 4-0; Faisal Khan (Rlys) bt T Srinivas (Kar) 4-1; Vijay Goel (Del) bt Anand Bhathija (Kar) 4-0; Prathamesh Sawant (Mah) bt A Satish Kumar (Kar) 4-2; Nadeem Azeez (Kar) bt Santosh R 4-3; Nishad Chowgle (Mah) bt Pushparaj (TN) 4-1; Anand Raghuvanshi (Mah) bt R Prabhakar (TN) 4-1; G Mukhyopadhyay (WB) bt Sasha Sambi (Kar) 4-1; Dilip Kumar (TN) bt Chirag Bai (Kar) 4-0; Michael Rebello (Kar) bt Srinivas (TN) 4-3; D Raj Kumar (Kar) bt Ankit Rastogi (UP) 4-0; Md Asim (Rlys) bt Ankur Shukla (UP) 4-1; AR Arjun (Kar) bt Md Azar (Kar) 4-3; Harish Gandhi (Guj) bt Vinayak Agarwal (UP) 4-3; Nadeem Ahmed (TN) bt G Vishwanath (Kar) 4-0; MS Arun (Kar) w/o Sunny A Jadhwani (TN); Kamal Rohmetra (J&K) bt Rajeev Singh (Mah) 4-1; A Deepak (Kar) bt Kunal Bokade (Mah) 4-3. Amit Bhushan (Kar) bt Siddharth Mehra (UP) 4-1; Sameer Shroff (TN) bt Abishek Raj (UP) 4-1; Vinay Kothari (TN) bt Sumesh Turki (J&K) 4-3; Shivam Arora (Bih) bt Rajesh (Kar) 4-3; Aseem (Har) w/o Ayush Kumar (Pun); L Nagaraj (Kar) bt Magesh S (TN) 4-1; Anuj Uppal (Del) bt Rajiv Shah (Kar) 4-0; Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) bt Kannan Das (Kar) 4-1; Sohail Jairaj bt Freddy (TN) 4-2; Balamurugan (TN) bt Mithil Shinde (Mah) 4-0; Pranit JR (TN) bt Tilakraj (Kar) 4-0.
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