Teenager S. Shrikrishna (-400 handicap)of Tamil Nadu emerged champion winning the Chembur Gymkhana Handicap Billiards Tournament 2018.
Tamil Nadu teenager S. Shrikrishna defeated Siddharth Parikh of Hindu Gymhana in the final of the Chembur Gymkhana Handicap Billiards Tournament
The unassuming 18-year-old Shrikrishna from Chennai was cool and composed and steadily cashed in on the opportunities at every visit to accumulate the points which helped him to prevail over the fancied Siddharth Parikh (-500) of Hindu Gymkhana by a convincing 200-3 points margin, at the Chembur Gymkhana Billiards Hall.
Shrikrishna who had made a clean sweep in the junior National early this year, winning the billiards and snooker titles in both the Junior and Sub-Junior categories, was not overawed playing against the highly experienced and versatile Parikh in the final.
He kept it simple and stuck to the basics and composed three noteworthy efforts of 159, 54 and 77 to cover up his handicap and race towards the winning 200 mark. Parikh showed his class by constructing a 200 breaks besides runs of 98 and 77, which helped to overcome his stiff handicap, but it a little too late as Shrikrishna had managed to cross the line to clinch the title.
The young champion Shrikrishna returned home richer by Rs 40,000 and received the winners’ trophy, while Parikh was presented with the runner-up prize of Rs 25,000. The losing semi-finalists Haria and Rayaan pocketed a prize of Rs 15,000 each and the four losing quarter-finalists got Rs 8,000 each. The players who get knocked out in the pre-quarter-final received a sum of Rs 5,000 each and the other qualifiers earned Rs 2,000 each.
Results –
Final: S. Shrikrishna (Tamil Nadu, -400) beat Siddharth Parikh (Hindu Gym, -500) 200-3.
Semi-finals: Siddharth Parikh (Hindu Gym, -500) beat Dhvaj Haria (Gujarat, -500) 200-(-263).
S. Shrikrishna (TN, -400) beat Rayaan Raazmi (ECC, -210) 200-(-32).