National C’ship: Amee, Varshaa move into final

Amee Kamani, the defending champion, defeated Vidya Pillai 27-52, 54-71, 75-66, 74-38, 69-21.

Varshaa Sanjeev defeated Delhi’s Keerath Bhandaal.

Amee Kamani pulled off a magical escape act to defeat Vidya Pillai 27-52, 54-71, 75-66, 74-38, 69-21 in the Senior National women’s snooker semifinal, at KSBA here on Friday. Amee, the defending champion, lost the first two frames, but launched a stirring comeback to clinch the best-of-five encounter. The Madhya Pradesh cueist looked down and out in the middle of the third frame, when Vidya surged ahead by nearly 50 points. Amee then got into the groove, and kept her hopes alive by taking it 75-66.

Read: Padhy beats Advani After pocketing the fourth frame, Amee took a 39-21 lead in the decider. Vidya was still in it, but missed a regulation blue. Amee grabbed the chance by making an unfinished 25-point match-winning clearance. Amee, 25, will face Karnataka’s Varshaa Sanjeev in the final. Varshaa prevailed in a similarly close last-four clash, against Delhi’s Keerath Bhandaal. The match boiled down to the pink in the fifth and final frame. The victory gave Varsha her maiden appearance in a 15-red Senior National snooker championship final. The 21-year-old hogged the limelight with a composed 62 in the second frame - the highest break among the women thus far. In the men’s section, Malkeet Singh edged out Manan Chandra in a thriller. With the score tied at 4-4, the duo battled it out with the colours in the final frame. It was Malkeet who held his nerve to get the job done. Malkeet will face Sumit Talwar in the summit clash. Both players are in line to claim a maiden Senior National 15-red snooker title.

The results (semifinals):Women: Amee Kamani (MP) bt Vidya Pillai (Kar) 27-52, 54(36)-71(31), 75-66(38), 74-38, 69(25)-21; Varshaa Sanjeev (Kar) bt Keerath Bhandaal (Del) 32-50, 82(62)-13, 94-69, 30-66(34), 62-46. Men: Sumit Talwar (Chg) bt Shabaaz Khan (PSPB) 50-27, 57-39, 44-77 (55), 22-108 (108), 12-71 (49), 57-28, 108(41)-21, 57-55; Malkeet Singh (Rlys) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 25-85(33), 93-30, 14-64(48), 66-51, 40-71, 1-78(77), 69-12, 50-37, 68-36.