Merchant makes it two in a row

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH 3. As soon as he potted the final black a huge smile lit up Yasin Merchant's face. He had done it again, bagging the National snooker title for the second year in a row and third time overall, beating Alok Kumar 7-2 in the final of the Khel.com sponsored 67th edition of the championship which concluded at the Wild West, Spencer Plaza here on Saturday.

Not one to show much emotion, Merchant of late is in pursuit of that earlier hunger which had helped him overcome self doubts and hurdles on his way to stardom. ``Studies and business have started taking my concentration away. I find snooker has become like a hobby to me now,'' he said soon after his easy semifinal win.

Against Alok Kumar, the only one to make a century break here (in the semifinal), he felt his hands would be full because as he put it, ``I was facing a man who was in top form.'' Not surprisingly then that when victory came, Merchant thought it to be one of his ``sweetest wins'' of his career.

And it certainly was one. Merchant despite his fears did not buckle under pressure. A 4-0 lead was a great beginning for a contest over 13 frames. While he admittedly was not at his best ever touch in potting, Alok's show too was a mixture of the good and the bad. But Merchant's experience helped him control the game, keep the openings to the minimum while making handy breaks to keep afloat. In the first frame Yasin pulled back from 25-42 to level the scores at 48 and then clinched it by sinking the final black.

That stunning start promised much. Merchant stole a 40 break and never looked back again in the second frame. The third saw Alok draw ahead with a small 29 point break to be 50-42 at one stage but two foul strokes cost him dearly. When the time came to sink the various coloured balls, Merchant's touch was back.

When Merchant progressed to take the next frame also, it seemed all was over for Alok save a few shouts backing him. Ever the fighter and a man who deep within is a clear thinker of the game, Alok held on. Helped by some miscued shots by Merchant and his own cueing hitting a purple patch, Alok grabbed the fifth frame. But the trend did not continue. Amidst misses by both players Merchant hung on to an early 41 break to reach a step closer to the title.

With the frame scores reading 5-1, a one-hour break was announced, which seemed unusual, but then who would have thought that a title match would cruise for an early finish. An early miss of the red by Merchant helped Alok enjoy a longer stay and pile up a 40 point break on resumption. But as luck would have it Merchant Yasin was able to snooker Alok more than once to get valuable points from foul strokes.

The champion then saw the opening to clear the table once again. ``Fight Alok,'' came a voice from the dark and that is what the Punjab player did, adopting safe tactics and keeping Merchant on check. Merchant's visits yielded little and worse he began to provide Alok openings. That was the last frame Yasin lost.

Would Alok continue in the same vein, the whisper went around as the players came on for the ninth frame. Alok's cut shots were impressive as were the long pots.

An early lead seemed a good insurance for Alok but snookers came in handy for Merchant to extract points. Points were running close now even as the reds on the table began to vanish.

Finally it was down to sinking the green, brown, blue, pink and the black. Yasin got the opportunity, even a little luck as the green and the brown were taken. The rest then became a routine for the master as he captured the glorious moment once again.

Mr. Manmohanjeet Singh, President, Singapore Billiards Association was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

The results: final: Yasin Merchant (Mah) beat Alok Kumar (Pun) 7- 2 (55-48, 75-47, 61-50, 57-17, 22-79, 72-45, 67-40, 28-57, 74- 69). For third place: Rupesh Shah (Guj) beat Devendra Joshi (Mah) 4-0 (86-13, 55-44, 89-0, 69-20.

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