Manudev retains snooker crown

Defending champion IH Manudev retained the KSBA State-ranking snooker championship, que­lling Sajan Bopanna’s spirited challenge with a fighting display here on Saturday.

Seemingly headed towards a lop-sided victory, Manudev suffered a sudden mid-match loss in form before posting a fine recovery to nail Bopanna 5-3 for his fifth State-ranking title at the KSBA Hall.

At the start of the contest, Manudev appeared a man in a hurry. He took the opening three frames 63-13, 65-24, 65-9, reducing Bopanna to a mere spectator.

Staring down the barrel, Bopanna went for broke, and it paid dividends as he bounced back in stunning fashion, winning the next three frames on the trot 71-7, 59-23, 76-55 to level proceedings at 3-3.

Manudev, a semifinalist in this year’s Chennai Nationals, rediscovered his game in time, winning the seventh and eighth frames 68-14, 56-32 to extend his reign for one more year.

In the third-place play-off, AR Arjun blanked veretan BVS Murthy 3-0.

Results: Final: IH Manudev bt Sajan Bopanna 5-3 (63-13, 65-24, 65-9, 7-71, 23-59, 55-76, 68-14, 56-32).
Third-place play-off: AR Arjun bt BVS Murthy 3-0 (66-54, 69-29, 67-0).
Semifinals: Manudev bt Murthy 5-1 (72-21, 69-35, 53-45, 61-19, 46-73, 93-2); Bopanna bt Arjun 5-0 (77-12, 66-46, 68-35, 50-37, 73-21).
4-8th places: Ajay Bhushan bt Jasim Tawin 2-0 (1-0, 52-45); Amit Bhushan bt Md Ali 2-0 (59-50, 62-20); Amit Bhushan bt Ajay Bhushan 2-1 (60-47, 40-56, 59-43); Jasim Tawin bt Md Ali 2-0 (70-28, 77-20).
Rankings: IH Manudev 1; Sajan Bopanna 2; AR Arjun 3; BVS Murthy 4; Amit Bhushan 5; Ajay Bhushan 6; Jasim Tawin 7; Md Ali 8.