Advani clinches National Snooker title

Pune: Defending champion Pankaj Advani survived a scare against compatriot Lucky Vatnani before

winning the summit clash 6-5 to clinch the National Snooker Championship title here on Monday. In a hard-fought 11-frame final lasting more than four hours, Advani scraped past Vatnani 76-22, 71-68, 93-00, 27-71, 23-96, 4-83, 55-45, 74-16, 22-68, 29-84 and 58-11 at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana here. Advani began well against Vatnani by winning the first three frames before the latter leveled the proceedings with some gutsy top table play. The next two frames too went tight but Advani won both displaying some masterly stroke play. However, Vatnani came back strongly to pocket the next two and draw parity at 5-5. In the decider, when Vatnani missed an easy chance to carry his break, Advani returned to the table and cleaned up the required points to win the match 6-5. Apart from the winners trophy, Advani got richer by Rs 20,000 while runner-up Vatnani pocketed Rs 14,000. In the third position play-off match, Kamal Chawla beat Aditya Mehta 4-2. PTI