Manudev clinches title

Manudev won 68-42, 60-22, 65-59, 17-66, 63-33 in the best-of-seven frames final.

Manudev (left) with runner-up Alok Kumar.

Karnataka’s Manudev overwhelmed top-seed and tournament favourite Alok Kumar 4-1 to clinch the title in the Masters National snooker championship here on Sunday. Manudev won 68-42, 60-22, 65-59, 17-66, 63-33 in the best-of-seven frames final. The scoreline pretty much reflects the rhythm and the confidence Manudev was in. Wrapping up three frames in quick time, Manu briefly got a glimpse of the dogged fight-back Alok  is famed for. The fourth frame saw Alok lift up his game as he barely allowed Manu a look-in. The prospects of a long-drawn fight soon evaporated as Manu, playing fearlessly, sealed the tie. The glory could not be denied to him this day.

Earlier in  the semifinals, Manu got past a fighting Rafath Habib and Alok breezed past Chirag Ramakrishnan.

All the four semifinalists qualified for the World 6 red and team championship snooker to be held in Egypt and also for the world snooker championship to be held in Malta.

The results:

Final:  Manudev (Kar) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-1 (68-42, 60-22, 65-59, 17-66, 63-33).

Semifinals: Alok Kumar bt Chirag Ramakrishnan (Mah) 4-0 (60(60)-22, 67-27, 65-26, 73-42), Manudev bt Rafath Habib (RSPB) 4-2 (105(64)-15, 33-59, 58-17, 31-71, 48-56, 70-32).

Quarterfinals: Manudev bt D Bhuvaneswaran 3-0 (69-14, 45-36, 95-1), Rafath Habib bt Shyam Jagtiani 3-1 (66-55, 50-41, 19-82, 71-18).