Open snooker championship: Hassan corners Taha, pockets title

Hassan Badami of Mumbai added an additional Rs 5,000 to his kitty for recording the ‘highest break’ in the tournament

Hassan Badami of Mumbai exacted sweet revenge on Taha Khan of Thane to claim the inaugural Corner Pocket Cup open snooker championship at Corner Pocket Snooker Club, MG Road, Camp on Thursday.

(From left) Runner-up Taha Khan, tournament director Chintamani Jadhav and winner Hassan Badami.(HT PHOTO)

In a hard-fought final, Hassan, who was down 0-2, performed excellently winning four frames consecutively to finish a 4-2 victor. In the clash between Mumbai and Thane players, Taha started well and won the first two frames 40-14 and 36-28. Down 0-2, Hassan was feeling the pressure, but still showed class.

In the fourth frame, Hassan scored a 64-point break, the highest break of the tournament and leveled the score at 2-2. With confidence boosted, Hassan did not allow any chance to Taha in the fifth and sixth frames, winning 37-15, 48-01, to win the title.

Hassan pocketed Rs 17,000 for his effort, while Taha took home Rs 8,000. Both semi-finalists – Salil Deshpande and Shivam Arora received Rs 4,000 respectively.

Hassan added an additional Rs 5,000 to his kitty for recording the ‘highest break’ in the tournament

Results:

Semi-final: Hassan Badami (Mumbai) bt Salil Deshpande (PYC Gymkhana) 42-22, 36-40, 42-21, 22-46, 46-24, 39-46, 58-27; Taha Khan (Thane) bt Shivam Arora (Pune) 42-22, 40-38, 02-35, 61(60)-00, 28-09

Finals: Hassan Badami (Mumbai) bt Taha Khan (Thane) 14-40, 28-36, 32-20, 64(64)-00, 37-15, 48-01