JOIN USManudev to face Manan in quarters
Manan, who cracked the maximum 75-point break en route to his thumping 5-0 round of 32 win over Sohail Jairaj earlier in the day, rode high on confidence in shutting out the unbeaten Sourav Kothari 5-2 (0-60, 40-17, 32-31, 29-20, 0-64 (64), 43-15, 44 (44)-1) while Manudev, returning to the circuit after a sabbatical, stamped his authority after easing past Railways’ R Girish 5-1 (58(33)-7, 38-6, 32-8, 64-9, 0-50(50), 35-27) here at the Karnataka State Billiards Association hall.
With two seeded players locking horns against each other, both Manan and Sourav had very little room for errors, especially considering the shortened format. A little cautious to start off, Manan offered Sourav a chance with a red still on the table and West Bengal lad showed his prowess with a 35 clearance to pocket the opening frame.
The multiple 9-ball and 8-ball champion then quickly bounced back with 28 clearance of his own to even the match at 1-1 before a silly error from Sourav gave him an opportunity to open a 2-1 lead. Leading 28-0 and a chance to seal the third frame, Sourav snookered himself behind the blue under bizzare circumstances. Attempt to remove himself from the mess resulted in selling the yellow to Manan, who potted the remaining colour balls -- except black -- in flash.
A flourish towards the closing stages of the fourth frame put Manan 3-1 up before Sourav bounced back in spectacular fashion. The 26-year-old, on reverse gear until then, suddenly kicked himself into overdrive sinking all the reds and finishing the job by firing out all the six colours to reduce the lead.
Sourav found himself in tricky situation in the sixth when Manan, after a run of 32, failed to pot the final red. With 35 achievable points, Sourav had to be precise with every shot for even a tiny error could hurt him badly. He gambled on going for the kill but a heavy impact on the brown took the cue ball within kissing distance of blue, making for an impossible potting.
Manan then wrapped the frame before a break of 64 in the seventh put the Delhiite on course for his first National title since 2008.
Results: Men: Pre-quarterfinals: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Balaji Reddy (Kar) 5-2 (48(48)-0, 23-31, 40-0, 19-34, 62(58)-0, 62(43)-15, 44-8); IH Manudev (Kar) R Girish (Rlys) 5-1 (58(33)-7, 38-6, 32-8, 64-9, 0-50(50), 35-27); Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt J Varun Kumar (TN) 5-3 (14-35, 50-4, 38(38)-0, 56(55)-6, 14-38, 47-5, 0-45, 33-28); Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Sourav Kothari (PSPB) 5-2 (0-60, 40-17, 32-31, 29-20, 0-64(64), 43-15, 44(44)-1); Divya Sharma (Har) bt Laxman Rawat (Del) 5-2 (52-10, 21-29, 23-39, 43-12, 58-12, 55-28, 37-7); Sundeep Gulati (Del) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 5-0 (34-8, 44-19, 42-4, 42-9, 49-10); Brijesh Damani (WB) bt KS Naveen Kumar (Kar) 5-2 (52(36)-0, 27-43, 59-2, 65-0, 34-27, 46-15, 43-0); R Habib (Rlys) bt Rishab Pandya (Mah) 5-3 (67(54)-0, 4-39, 23-34, 1-52, 45-5, 37-0, 35-22, 39-16).
Round of 32: S Kothari bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 5-3 (58-12, 45-8, 32-29, 17-32, 43-45, 33-20, 6-43, 46-13); KS Naveen bt Prem Prakash (TN) 5-4 (64-8, 8-46, 6-39, 14-42, 43-33, 46-11, 11-48, 44-21, 39-18); R Girish bt Madhu Chandra (Kar) 5-2 (38-21, 47-4, 28-16, 5-47, 54-15, 15-40, 29-15); Rafath H bt Faisal Khan (Rlys) 5-2 (19-28, 22-29, 48-9, 32-25, 40-16, 58-10, 30-2); Sundeep G bt Shashank Gupta (MP) 5-0 (47-11, 67(67)-0, 44-14, 44-8, 31-20); Divya S bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 5-1 (48-18, 32-6, 23-56, 52-5, 36-24, 34-1); Manan C bt Sohail Jairaj (Kar) 5-0 (42-0, 36-20, 44-0, 39-11, 75(75)-0); Pankaj A bt Arvind Savur (Kar) 5-0 (47-18, 34-24, 40-7, 46-0, 71(67)-12).
Brijesh D bt Manish Jain (WB) 5-1 (1-49, 44-9, 22-21, 40(40)-0, 41-0, 33-9); Balaji R bt Shravan Mohta (Mah) 5-2 (59(58)-0, 57-11, 25-28, 6-61(57), 33-14, 41-0, 48-8); Manudev bt Siddharth Parekh (Rlys) 5-2 (44-23, 0-53, 38-21, 50-20, 4-46, 32-18, 54-20); Laxman R bt Vijay Goel (Del) 5-2 (18-34, 34-23, 30-16, 11-37, 41-27, 30-27, 41-37); Varun K bt Lucky Vatnani (AP) 5-4 (45-21, 8-48, 7-57, 6-54, 49-26, 40-12, 41-34, 1-62(62), 41-37); Dhruv S bt Nadeem Azeez (Kar) 5-3 (28-32, 6-41, 39-27, 43-9, 32-23, 43-29, 50-10, 54-5); Kamal C bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 5-4 (3-36, 49-25, 9-47(40), 14-47, 46-24, 51-28, 22-61, 51(51)-0, 34-10); Rishab P bt Akshay Kumar (Del) 5-3 (41-11, 57(57)-1, 8-45, 1-38, 26-15, 0-37, 34-29, 38-20).
Ladies: Semifinals: Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Anuja Chandra (PSPB) 5-4 (58(33)-7, 38-6, 32-8, 64-9, 0-50(50), 35-27); Vidya Pillai bt Chitra Magaimaraj 5-4 (31-26, 31-47, 19-36, 38-6, 32-11, 1-54, 39-14, 25-36, 52-24).
Quarterfinals: Anuja C bt Indira Gowda (Kar) 4-0 (44-11, 39-7, 41-1, 42-6); Meenal T bt Ashwini Puranik (MP) 4-1 (55-3, 66-51, 41-11, 33-35, 45-14); Chitra M bt Suniti Damani (WB) 4-0 (31-26, 35-12, 34-15, 36(33)-2); Vidya P bt Arantxa Sanchis (Mah) 4-1 (65(32)-4, 21-32, 40-16, 42-36, 30-29).
5-6 placing: Arantxa S bt Indira G 2-0 (42-10, 30-11). 7-8: Ashwini P bt Suniti D 2-0 (38-10, 41-15).