Chief Minister Roshaiah attended the inauguration ceremony and officially announced that the event has begun. ram charan looked to be a professional billiards player when he was squashing the ball into the holes, Hansika Motwani tried her best to catch the queue but unable to.
click here for more
Hyderabad: The world of snookers has always remianed a highly competitive field. That the World Championship has thrown up a different winner each year since Malta’s Paul Mifsud won back-to-back titles in 1985 and ’86, and that only twice in the last three decades that the title has gone to the same country in two consecutive editions — Wales in 1976 and ’78; Thailand in 2007 and ’08 — indicates that no particular player or nation ever dominated the sport.
That India has produced two winners — Om Agrawal in 1984 and Pankaj Advani in 2003 — in such a fiecely competitive sport is indeed a matter of pride and as the 35th edition starts at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre here on Sunday, the hosts will be hoping that the nation will have another winner.
It would be great if an Indian manages to win the title, for it will be one of those rare occasions when the champion belonged to the host nation. Of course, Thailand managed it just two years ago, but then they were the only nation to do so twice since England managed it through Ray Edmonds in 1972.
So when Pankaj Advani begins his campaign against Daniel Thorp on Sunday, he would do well to remember this in order to ease the pressure off himself a little bit. But should he decide to alter the trend, then his fans can be sure that they will see some vintage stuff from the youngster.
Whether or not to buck the trend is for Advani to decide, but one factor which is certain to motivate the Indian spearhead is his none-too-impressive performance at the recent Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam. The hunger to wipe out those memories, particularly in front of the home crowd, will surely see Advani give out a high voltage performance.
The other Indian who is expected to do well is Manan Chandra. If his Asian Indoor Games’ show is any indication, the Delhi lad is at the peak of his form and it will not be a surprise if he does something out of the ordinary. As for the Indian challenge in the Masters category, it will be spearheaded by none other than Geet Sethi.
However, the players to be watched are from Thailand, a nation which has consistently produced world class cueists since the 80s. Not only will they be looking to keep the title with them for the third straight year, but they will be aiming to tilt the balance completely in favour of Asia which has increasingly become the hub of cue sports in the recent times.
Add to this list the Chinese, Afghanis and players from the Middle East, the championship promises to serve an exciting fare as they will be fighting against the traditional powerhouses from Europe.
Besides the Men and Masters categories, the championship includes the Ladies event too which has seven Indians in the fray led by National champion Meenal Thakur.
Geet Sethi helps minister J Geeta Reddy make a shot after the inauguration of World Snooker Championship at HICC on Saturday even as chief minister K Rosaiah, sports minister K Venkat Reddy, Pankaj Advani and actor Ram Charan Teja look on
No comments:
Post a Comment