India B side wins gold medal in Team Snooker Championship

Mumbai, June 24 (IANS) The Indian 'B' team, including national champion Kamal Chawla, Brijesh Damani and Sparsh Pherwani, won the gold medal in the ACBS Team Snooker Championship 2023 in Tehran, Iran.

In the summit clash, the Indians were off to a shaky start as they lost the first two matches, but they recovered well to win the next three frames and defeat Hong Kong China 3-2 and emerge champions.

The winning Indian team was coached by former world billiards champion Ashok Shandilya.

India number one Chawla made a shaky start and lost to Cheung Ka Wai by a 33-82 frame score. Later, Damani failed to score a single point against Chang Yu Kiu, who started with a bang by neatly constructing an exact century break of 100 points to record 100-0 win in the second frame and give Hong Kong a 2-0 lead.

But, in the doubles third frame, Chawla and Damani combined perfectly to pull off a tense win against the Hong Kong pair of Chang Yu Kiu and Tam Yun Fung by 66-29 points to cut the deficit. The doubles win infused confidence in the Indian camp and proved to be the turning point.

Chawla showed great touch and sublime skills to compile an excellent 115 break in winning the fourth frame against Chang Yu Kiu 115-0 to level the frame scores at 2-all and force the decider. In the fifth frame, Damani stayed focused and potted steadily to snatch a tight win against Cheung Ka Wai by a 66-45 point margin and clinch India's triumph.

In the semi-finals, India 'B' got the better of Afghanistan 3-2 while Hong Kong China defeated Malaysia 3-1.

The Indian 'A' team comprising Pankaj Advani, Aditya Mehta and Laxman Rawat crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing 2-3 to Afghanistan.

Earlier, India's Rayaan Razmi had won a bronze medal in the Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2023.