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
First Published: Monday, September 13, 2010, 22:54