Manan shows fine form, three Punjab Cueists in semifinals

New Delhi, July 30 (UNI) Top seed Dharminder Lilly led an onslaught of Punjab cueists as three of them made it to the semifinals of the National one-cushion carombole championship here today.

Delhi's Manan Chandra, however, raised the standard of the game by being the lone cueist to cross the 100-point mark in his 107-46 win against Ajay Rehani.

Second seeded Manan crossed 70 in his 40th visit before reaching the century mark in his 58th visit as he asserted control over the proceedings. Manan had four breaks of five and four canons and two of six as the Delhi cueist stamped his authority on this least-played green baize sport.

In other action, Dharminder Lilly came out unscathed in a tantalisingly close quarterfinal tie against Kamal Chawla. Lilly, was scrappy at the start. Chawla, who had shown consistency throughout the tournament saw luck going against him as he got some difficult positions and missed canons.

The match went to the wire before Lilly triumphed 69-65. Seasoned Alok Kumar, however, gave no such openings to his opponents and beat Sandeep Gulati in the quarterfinal before having beaten H S Bhogal 63-30 squarely.

Punjab's Sumit Talwar held his nerves towards the end before winning 59-52 against Delhi's Anuj Uppal to set up semi-final clash against Lilly. Alok Kumar takes on Manan Chandra in the other semifinal.

UNI