Rovin, Meenal claim snooker titles

Mumbai, Nov 28 (UNI) Meenal Thakur clinched the ladies snooker title, while Rovin D'Souza bagged the sub-junior boys snooker crown, following contrasting wins, in the Matunga Gymkhana Maharashtra State Selection 2007 Billiards&Snooker Tournament, at the Matunga Gymkhana here today.

Bombay Gymkhana's Meenal Thakur overcame a determined challenge from 17-year-old engineering student Arantxa Sanchis of Catholic Gymkhana before fashioning an exciting 70-18, 60-11, 21-46, 49-39 victory in the best-of-five frames final.

Thakur's vast experience took her to a comfortable 2-0 lead for a dream start, but Sanchis, who reached the semi-finals in the recent World U-21 Championships in Goa, clinched the third frame to sound a warning.

Sanchis showed she was no pushover when she surprisingly dominated the crucial fourth frame with an array of brilliant long pots, as she recovered from a 22-38 deficit to lead by a solitary point at 39-38 with only the blue, pink and black remaining.

Sanchis missed the blue and Thakur came back to take a 43-39 lead with a sensational long pot, before sinking the pink and sealing a thrilling win.

In contrast, Rovin D'Souza crushed Reza Merchant 73-27, 69-0, 72-8 in the sub junior boys final.

All the finalists will represent Maharashtra in the forthcoming Nationals in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Chembur Gymkhana's Aditya Mehta and Bombay Gymkhana's Amit Saboo registered two wins each to strengthen their positions in the four-man senior snooker semi-final round robin league.

Results: Ladies Snooker Final: Meenal Thakur bt Arantxa Sanchis 70-18, 60-11, 21-46, 49-39.

Sub-Jr Boys Snooker Final: Rovin D'Souza bt Reza Merchant 73-27, 69-0, 72-8.

Sr. Snooker Semi-final Round Robin: Aditya Mehta bt Marzdi Kalyaniwala 49-37, 68-56, 60-7, 68-62; Amit Saboo bt Rishabh Pandya 65-58, 19-69, 60-52, 37-62, 18-59, 71-15, 58-14; Aditya Mehta bt Rishabh Pandya 20-62, 81-53, 66-25, 86-16, 31-67, 77-26; Amit Saboo bt Marzdi Kalyaniwala 71-41, 73-2, 31-80, 16-57, 57-9, 65-64.

UNI