Mumbai: Suraj Rathi of Pune fashioned a 3-2 victory to snatch the sub junior snooker crown, in the Malabar Hill Club Maharashtra State Selection Billiards & Snooker Tournament on Friday.
Rathi, of Raasta Peth, rallied from the loss of the opening frame in the best-of-five championship round to overcome Rohan Sahani of Mumbai 78-62, 59-67, 59-55, 44-70, 58-38 for his first major title.
Rathi, who sailed into the final without dropping a frame, survived a scare when he lost the second frame, won the nail-biting third by a whisker and dropped an eventful fourth after looking to be in control.
Rathi, in his first year at Ness Wadia College, led 32-23 in the crucial fourth when his troubles began with a slew of foul-and-miss blemishes that allowed Sahani to surge to a 59-40 lead before being forced into the decider. But Rathi, who trains at Poona Club under mentor Vignesh Sanghvi, made amends in the decider and surged to a vital lead to take the frame and title away. “It was a tough contest,” said Rathi, whose family runs the popular portal punediary.com. “I brought myself under pressure in the fourth frame. Rohan played very well but it just was not his day.”
