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Thursday
20 November, 2008 |
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SNOOKER |
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SUPERB SUPOJ CLAIMS ASIAN TITLE
• Thailand's Supoj Saenla clinched a Main Tour place with victory in the Asian Championship
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By
Hanif Hassan
Monday,
18 June, 2007
Supoj Saenla of Thailand denied Indian Yasin Merchant the third title by routing him 7-0 in the final of the 2007 Asian Snooker Championship 2007 at the Karachi Sheraton Hotel on June 17.
The talented Thai champion has also won the right to represent Asia on the 2007-2008 professional Main Tour and to be a part of the team of Asian Stars, which will face former world professional champions in an invitational event in Hong Kong next month.
The unseeded Yasin, who was aiming to win the Asian title for a record third time, was humbled by third seed Saenia in straight frames in the best of 13 contest much to the amusement of the capacity crowd and those watching it live on television.
Yasin, having captured the Asian crown in 1989 and 2001, was unable to stage a comeback in the game once he was snookered in the second frame that he was extremely unlucky to have lost after being in winning position.
Supoj, having toppled the likes of Mohammad Shehab and Jin Long during the last couple of days, was never short of confidence even while tackling the vastly experienced Yasin in the final of the championship.
Yasin, on the other hand, seemed to be lacking the killer instinct in the high voltage game. He also ran out of luck that made his task of challenging his rampant rival even more arduous.
Unlike the majority of the knockout games that had gone to the wire, the final turned out to be a one-sided affair and the best of 13 encounter was over in a matter of three hours with Supoj winning it by the frame scores of 77-26, 69-68, 78-16, 63-29, 59-26, 64-52, 99-26.
Supoj clinched the opening frame leisurely but he was helped by the lady luck in the keenly contested second frame. A break of 71 helped him take the third frame quite comfortably and he was 3-0 up within an hour.
The Mumbai-based Yasin, whose safety has never been his forte, was unable to build big breaks. Supoj looked in complete command of the situation to the extent of dictating terms, something that’s unusual in the final of any mega event.
With the veteran Indian failing to contain his rival, the outcome was never in doubt. It was one of those days when nothing went right for Yasin while Supoj continued his march towards glory.
It was quite extraordinary how Supoj extended his spectacular form in the knockout stage of the competition. He blanked top seeded Mohammad Shehab of UAE in straight frames in the quarter-finals.
Then he smashed fifth seed Jin Long of China 6-1 in the semifinals before winning the final also in straight frames. He conceded just a single frame while pocketing as many 18 frames in the last three matches against the toughest of opponents. He was the worthy winner of the title.
Global Cue Sports 2007
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