Bijlani edges past Daruwala into billiards final

Mumbai, Aug 24 (UNI) Sanjiv Bijlani edged past Rohinton Daruwala in a thriller and powered into the billiards final in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship at the P J Hindu Gymkhana today.

In a tight semi-final contest that could have gone either way, Bijlani (+70) of Park Club, Dadar, overcame a strong challenge from Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana's Daruwala (+60) to clinch a pulsating 375-353 win in an entertaining encounter.

Bijlani enjoyed a slender 36-point advantage as he led 228-182 in the race to 375, but after bungling a few in-offs and easy pots saw Daruwala claw his way back.

An aggressive Daruwala made the most of the opportunity to surge to a crucial 12-point advantage to take over and lead 264-252.

But Bijlani came back into the match after Daruwala missed a sitter and fired a decisive break of 35 for a psychological advantage. Daruwala didn't give up though, thriving on small breaks as if time was running out, and levelled at 351-all to set the stage for a nail-biting finish.

But a hasty Daruwala let it slip away in the end, as Bijlani steadily garnered points to fashion one of the closest wins in the billiards competition.

''Rohinton is an equally good player,'' explained Bijlani after the match. ''Both missed easy shots, but that break of 35 turned it in my favour as I believe it rattled Rohinton. I think he got nervous after that and missed some easy shots.'' Said Daruwala, ''Sanjiv played very well. It was unbelievable when I tried a drop cannon at the top and the white, that travelled at great speed, just stopped dead in its track and stuck to the cushion. I think it was anybody's game.'' Defending champion, Lucky Vatnani (+15) of Hyderabad will take on Marzdi Kalyaniwala in the snooker final after ending the campaign of Delhi's Vaibhav Sharma 91-86, 99-88, 86-69, 83-86, 106-83 in the best-of-seven frames semi-finals.

Results: Billiards (Semi-final): Sanjiv Bijlani (+70) bt Rohinton Daruwala (+60) 375-353.

QF: Omar Balsara (-40) bt Prakash Rajani (+60) 250-224.

Snooker (SF): Lucky Vatnani (AP, +15) bt Vaibhav Sharma (Delhi, +50) 91(44)-86, 99-88, 86-69, 83-86, 106-83.

UNI