Geet Sethi, Nalin Patel
sail into quarter-finals
Dwayne Williams
in Bombay
Mike Russell in full flow is a treat to watch. That flow may not have been at its fullest at the CCI
on Thursday, yet it sufficed to flatten fellow Englishman Roxton Champan and earn for the world No 1 a place in the semi-finals of the Mega Ace World professional billiards championships 2001.
Earlier, India's world No 2 Geet Sethi sparkled
initially and then survived a late fight-back by
national champion Devendra Joshi, scampering through
to the quarter-finals on a close 544-472 triumph.
Late Wednesday night, another Indian Nalin Patel also made
the last eight stage when quelling the challenge from
compatriot Dhruv Sitwala. However, Subhash Agrawal put
up a dismal show on Thursday morning and was thrashed 520-169
by Australia's Robbie Foldvari. How pedestrian Subhash
was can be gauged from the fact that his best effort
was a mere 21-break.
Russell showed why he is the undisputed world No 1.
He was in full control and probably only not fully
focussed. He was able to roll in big breaks almost at
will, the 316 and 211 being the high points of a
superb outing. Chapman tried his best to stay in the
match and also managed to post three century runs. But
that could hardly put the breaks on a rampaging
Russell.
Sethi was off to a rousing start. The 239-run on only
his third visit was controlled if not really
exquisite. But he was able to get back into that early
rhythm only late in the match. Joshi fought back
gamely, rifling in runs of 50 and 126 before coming
up with a brilliantly executed late effort. When that
break was worth 126 he was just 61 points away from
Sethi and had three minutes left. But he missed a
simple red point and with that went his chances of
what looked like a possible upset.
Results (pre-quarter-finals):
Nalin Patel 601 (99, 143, 89, 104) beat Dhruv Sitwala
320 (70, 70); Robbie Foldvari 520 (80, 50, 51, 87)
beat Subhash Agrawal 169; Geet Sethi 544 (239, 64, 63)
beat Devendra Joshi 472 (50, 126, 169).
Quarter-finals: Mike Russell 1543 (80, 59, 128, 316,
211, 167, 61, 94, 112, 76) beat Roxton Chapman 758
(88, 125, 175, 180).
Photograph: Jewella Miranda
