Anuj Uppal of Delhi halted the fine run of Gujarats legendary cueist Geet Sethi by snatching a 4-3 victory in a nail-biting semifinal of the of the MIG Cricket Club-organised third Masters National Snooker Championship here on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old Uppal managed to overcome the challenge from the versatile 58-year-old Sethi in an absorbing tussle which went on for close to four hours.
Sethi tried all the tricks in the bag but 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.
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On an adjacent table, Rafat Habib of Railways continued with his fine winning run of form to record a convincing 4-0 win against Maharashtras Cherag Ramakrishnan in the other semi-final.
The bearded Habib was fortunate to win the first frame as Ramakrishnan, 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 Ramakrishnan was unable to recover from that miss and the loss of the frame. The Tamil Nadu-based Habib closed out the match by 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 packing 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.
Ramakrishnan enjoyed a good run against his state mate and arch-rival Sarang Shroff and went on to carve out a 4-2 victory in another last eight match. Meanwhile, Sethi and Uppal scored contrasting wins in their quarter-finals encounters.
The former national snooker champion Sethi maintained the winning momentum and eased past Karnatakas D Rajkumar by posting a 4-1 victory. On the side table, Uppal got the better of ONGCs Dhruv Sitwala 4-3 in a match that went to the wire.
THE RESULTS:
Quarterfinals:
Geet Sethi (GUJ) beat D. Rajkumar (KTK) 4-1 (56-17, 54-30, 09-58, 71(61)-24, 63-16); Anuj Uppal (DEL) beat Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 4-3 (60-18, 80 (65)-05, 85-27, 51-61, 00-93(93), 70-78, 72-21).
Cherag Ramakrishnan (MH) beat Sarang Shroff (MH) 4-2 (77-71, 79(52)-08, 73(62)-00, 00-73, 37-65, 60-13); Rafath Habib (RLY) beat Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-2 (31-59, 64-27, 66(61)- 19, 49-55, 63-29, 60-17).
Semifinals:
Anuj Uppal (DEL) beat Geet Sethi (GUJ) 4 -3 (78(63)-43, 76-34, 03-76(60), 38-63, 61-17, 02-67, 89-11).
Rafath Habib (RLYS) beat Cherag Ramakrishnan (MH) 4-0 (60-58, 71-28, 55-26, 49-22).
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