Mumbai : World No. 3 Siddharth Parikh beat Aditya Agrawal to emerge champion, in the MCF Open Billiards Tournament, at the Mandpeshwar Civic Federation. Borivali.
Last year’s runner-up Parikh, of PJ Hindu Gymkhana, fired three double century, two century and three half-century breaks en route to a facile 1350-757 victory that earned him Rs. 30,000. IBSF World Championship pre-quarter-finalist Agrawal, who earned Rs. 16,000, kept pace till the end before he missed a red pot that allowed Parikh, ranked No. 2 in India, to return for an unfinished break of 214 to seal the win.
A consistent Parikh got off to a dream start with a 117 and 230 early in the contest that gave him a comfortable cushion. He held on to the advantage, making sure he remained ahead and delighted with the significant breaks to dominate the match from the word go.
“The initial double century break gave me a good cushion,” explained Parikh, who will be part of a formidable Indian squad for the Asian Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that will be held in the first week of March. “My confidence grew after beating Dhruv Sitwala in the semi-finals. Aditya played well and he showed it by making a comeback.” “Siddharth was too good,” reasoned Agrawal. “He made fewer errors, while I did not convert my efforts into bigger breaks.”
