Brilliant Khan lifts SBA Open Snooker trophy
The winner carried home Rs 1.5 lakh for his fine efforts. Chawla received Rs. 50,000, being the runner-up prize.
Keeping a cool head and mesmerizing with his accurate potting, Khan at his very best today to beat the Asian Championships bronze medallist 6-1 (52-20, 87-19, 88-26, 75-63, 64-16, 48-73, 63-10) in the final in less than three hours.
“It came as a surprise to me because I Kamal made far too many errors and I cashed in on those chances. It was a sweet victory because I had lost to Kamal in Mumbai the last time we met in a final there,” said Khan, the Delhi-based Railways employee, on today’s win.
The India No. 5, who trains under former Asian Snooker champion Yasin Merchant, dominated the proceedings right from the word go that Chawla had to wait until the sixth frame for his first win in the final.
Though the first frame saw cautious approaches from both, Khan pressed the advantage with the first big break of 47 in the second. He continued with the trend and got another 49-point break in the third to go 3-0 up.
However, in the fourth frame, both players missed quite a lot of opportunities as their visits to the table only increased. Still, Khan won the frame 75-63 to keep his form and luck favouring him. Khan easily outwitted Chawla in the fifth, allowing just 16 points to Chawla before notching up 64 with a 49-point break on his third visit.
Khan just needed one more frame to claim the title but Chawla brought all his tricks to the table—he scored 55 points on the trot for his biggest break today—and took the frame. This frame saw both players making several mistakes, but Chawla made most of his rival’s errors.
But Khan, realizing his mistakes in the previous frame, cut out all risk shots and played absolutely like a champion to take the seventh frame 63-10 only in two visits.
Giving full credit to Khan’s brilliant display, Chawla congratulated his opponent and admitted that Khan deserved the title on the day. “He was superb today. I couldn’t find answers to his attacking game,” said Chawla. “I wish I had continued with my semifinal form,” Chawla rued.
Earlier, Manan Chandra lost to Chawla 4-5 in a close semifinal encounter while Khan accounted for Divya Sharma 5-2.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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