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6 red snooker: Pune’s Arora stuns former favourite Badami to make it to final
Mumbai and Pune will clash in finals, after semis proved city cueists up to scratch for event
PUNE Mumbai and Pune will go head-to-head in the final of the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra’s 6 Red snooker state selection tournament 2019.
The secretary of BSAM and second seed of the tournament, Manav Panchal, from Mumbai, edged past seventh seed Shahbaz Khan 6-5 in the first semifinal, while Pune’s Shivam Arora shocked everyone as he swept past top-seed, and former world number three (six red) Hasan Badami, 6,-1 in the other semifinal at the Poona Club billiards room on Tuesday.
Arora vs Badami
Shivam Arora astonishingly swept top-seed Hasan Badami aside in the second semifinal on Tuesday. Badami missed quite a few opportunities through-out the game which ended in just seven frames, as Arora was in prolific form. Surprisingly, Badami failed to pot balls which were right in-front of the pocket. A couple of stun shots saw the balls ricocheting off the cushions and rolling away from the pocket.
As Arora took the first frame, Badami’s complacent strokes were persistent throughout the game as Arora had a 5-0 lead at the end of the fifth frame. Badami finally fought back in the sixth frame as he won in 13-44, denying sixth seed Arora a clean sweep. But the game did end in the following frame as Arora did not take his foot off the pedal and finished the seventh frame with a score of 30-19 to humiliate the top-seed 5-1 and confirm his presence in the final against Manav Panchal on Wednesday.
Panchal vs Khan
In the first frame of the game, Manav Panchal started strong launching himself into a ten-point lead from the start. Panchal played a couple of beautiful shots to pot, but Shahbaz Khan kept his cool to nullify Panchal’s early advantage. Using the side-spin and stun shots to perfection, Khan propelled himself into the lead. Panchal, however, made a comeback as he potted the last red followed by a fluke potting of the brown. Khan, eventually, cleared the baize potting the black in the bottom left pocket, to win the first frame 22-34.
Both players had a tough time in the second frame as they saw numerous efforts bouncing off the pocket cushions and rolling away from the pocket cushions. Panchal put Khan in a tough spot from where the 28-year-old did not get an easy shot at his intended target. As a result, he committed two fouls which helped Panchal earn crucial points. However, after all the reds were potted, Khan registered a break of 27 to clear the table and win the frame yet again, launching himself into a surprise 2-0 lead.
Panchal bounced back in the third frame as he was off to a strong start that helped him gain a 30-0 lead. The second seed played some tricky strokes which included potting the green off a the cushion. Unlike the first two frames, Khan committed a few errors as he failed to convert easy opportunities and was punished for it as Panchal got off the mark in the semi-final after winning the third frame 47-10.
The secretary of BSAM was off to another good start in the fourth frame, but faltered mid-way through as one of his efforts came bouncing off the pocket cushion, giving Khan a chance to notch a few points. Khan was unable to capitalise on the opportunity as he too failed to convert easy shots. The advantage was back with Panchal who potted the pink with a powerful stun shot to win the fourth frame, reinstating parity in the semi-final.
Khan, who eliminated Pune’s top-seed Tahaa Khan earlier on the day, kept his cool and did not get nervy as he took a commanding lead of 37 points at the start of the fifth frame. Khan was prolific throughout the fifth frame and it was Panchal, this time, who was missing easy opportunities. After failing to to pocket three easy balls, Panchal was left frustrated as Khan notched 51 points in the fifth frame, winning it with a score of 12-51.
The 28-year-old could not extend his advantage despite Panchal struggling in the sixth frame. Khan earned eight points due to two consecutive foul and misses by Panchal, which put Khan in a comfortable position. However, the commanding lead was short-lived as Panchal fought back and reduced the deficit to four points. After potting the reds, Panchal cleared the baize yet again and ended the sixth frame with a decimating scoreline of 50-16, as both players reached the midway point with 3 frames each.
Panchal had to wait till the seventh frame to finally take the lead in the game. It was a very evenly matched contest with both players sticking to a very simple strategy. Khan, who loves playing the swerve shots, stuck to playing simple or stun shots. Though it was a close contest, both players seemed to be very lackadaisical with their strokes and missed extremely simple chances to roll the balls into the pocket. At the end of frame seven, Panchal won 35-19.
As Panchal looked to extend his advantage over his fellow Mumbai opponent, Khan fought back in the eighth frame. Initially, Khan committed a foul which was followed by a tantalisingly close miss as one of the red balls stopped right in front of the side-pocket. Panchal then potted the last red ball on a beautiful rebound, but unfortunately for him, the cue ball rolled right into another pocket, giving Khan four crucial points which helped him at the end of the frame as he equalised the score and won the eighth frame 29-32.
Panchal realised he could not afford to commit any more silly mistakes. Khan only managed to get four strokes in the ninth frame as Panchal put up an extremely dominating display, slotting the balls in the pockets with simple strokes, using just the reverse and the side-spin. Khan was able to pot just one red ball during the entire frame as Panchal won the ninth frame 57-01.
Panchal just need to win one more frame as the game entered the 10th frame. Khan, who looked a tad shaky in the previous frame, still managed to keep his cool even when the 28-year-old trailed in the initial stages. Panchal potted most of the reds and it looked like the game would be over without a decider, but one error from Panchal is all that was needed to take the game to the penultimate frame. Khan pounced on the opportunity and cleared the table, winning the frame by a very narrow margin of six points.
Both the players wished each other luck as the game entered the decider. Trying his best not to get intimidated, Khan pushed himself into an early 31 point lead. Unfortunately, those were the only points he scored as Panchal notched a break of 34 points to finish the game with a victory for himself, cementing his spot in the final against Pune’s Shivam Arora.
Finalists speak
“6 red is a very funny game. One opportunity lost and the other person takes full advantage of it. It went back and forth and I think I was a little lucky as the ball rolled in my favour in the end. He [Shabaz Khan] is a fantastic player. He used to play in a pool parlour and from there he grew and got better and won went on to win the 15 Red State Tournament in 2017 which helped him get a sports membership at CCI (Cricket Club of India). The final will be an interesting affair. I heard that he [Shivam Arora] thrashed Hasan and he is also a former world champion and former world number three, so I am looking forward to it.”
- Manav Panchal, finalist, Mumbai
“To beat anybody 6-1 is amazing, but to beat Hasan 6-1 has put me on cloud nine. He is undoubtedly one of the toughest players to beat, so I am extremely happy with my performance today. I have been focusing on my rhythm and playing easy shots in the past couple of months. It has helped me to improve my game. I feel better on the table now. I hope I continue the same form in the final. I have played him [Manav Panchal] only once before and that was in 15 Red about six years ago. I don’t remember the score, but I am looking forward to the final.”
- Shivam Arora, finalist, Pune
