Mumbai: Anuj Uppal of Delhi halted the fine run of Gujarat’s legendary cueist Geet Sethi by snatching a 4-3 victory in a nail-biting semi-final of the of the MIG Cricket Club, 3nd Master’s National Snooker Championship, at the MIG Club billiards hall here on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old Uppal maintained a calm composure and managed to overcome the versatile 58-year-old Sethi in an absorbing tussle which went on for close to four hours.
The highly experienced Sethi tried all the tricks in the bag but he could not unnerve the Delhi cueist who managed to come out every sticky situation and pot steadily to clinch a 78-43, 76-34, 03-76, 38-63, 61-17, 02-67 and 89-11 verdict in his favour.
On an adjacent table, Rafat Habib of Railways continued with his fine winning run of form to record a convincing 4-0 win against Maharashtra’s Cherag Ramakrishnan in the other semi-final.
Habib, the former Asian Games gold medalist, was fortunate to win the first frame as Ramakrishan who was leading 58-47 missed a simple pink. Habib grabbed the reprieve and potted the last two colours to snatch the frame.
Thereafter, Habib was in complete control as Ramakrishan was unable to recover from that miss and the loss of the frame. The Tamil Nadu-based Habib closed out the match coasting to a 60-58, 71-28, 55-26 and 49-22 victory.
Earlier in the day, Habib sent defending champion Alok Kumar of ONGC crashing out by recording a stunning 4-2 victory. The Railway cueist was steady and compiled a break of 61 in third as he cruised to 31-59, 64-27, 66-19, 49-55, 63-29 and 60-17 victory.
Results (Semi-finals): Anuj Uppal (Del) bt Geet Sethi (GUJ) 4-3 (78(63)-43, 76-34, 03-76(60), 38-63, 61-17, 02-67, 89-11). Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Cherag Ramakrishnan (MH) 4-0 (60-58, 71-28, 55-26, 49-22)
Quarter-finals: Geet Sethi (Guj) bt D Rajkumar (Ktk) 4-1 (56-17, 54-30, 09-58, 71(61)-24, 63-16); Anuj Uppal (Del) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 4-3 (60-18, 80(65)-05, 85-27, 51-61, 00-93(93), 70-78, 72-21); C Ramakrishnan (Mah) bt Sarang Shroff (Mah) 4-2 (77-71, 79(52)-08, 73(62)-00, 00-73, 37-65, 60-13);
Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-2 (31-59, 64-27, 66(61)-19, 49-55, 63-29, 60-17).
