Anuja pips sister to lift national title
Bangalore, Jan 29 (UNI) Anuja Thakur of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) prevailed upon her sister Meenal Thakur of Maharashtra 3-0 to lift the 15th Women's National Billiards Championship Trophy, played at the Karnataka State Billiards Association hall here today.
The 24-year-old Anju, who had shown the doors to World Eight Pin Champion Chitra Magimairaj in the semifinals yesterday, however, had to struggle as her elder sister was not ready to give up.
Though the sisters fought with determination in their maiden clash in the finals, it was Anuja who held sway over her sister with her clear concentration and taking each frame at a time. After winning the first frame with a margin of 13 points (75-62), Anuja encountered stiff resistance from Meenal in the second, but took advantage of the latter's fault in not taking yellow cannon instead of white when the score read 73-67 and pocketed eight points to take a 2-0 lead. Meenal virtually conceded the third and final frame 77-23.
This was the fifth time that Anuja was lifting the National Billiards title. She had earlier won in 2001 (Chennai), 2003 (Jammu and Kashmir), 2004 (Gwalior) and 2005 (Mumbai).
UNI