Natasha Chethan completes double at Heyball National Championships
Natasha Chethan completed a memorable double by winning the women's title at the second Heyball National Championships, while Laxman Rawat clinched his maiden senior National cue sports title after defeating Divya Sharma in the men's final in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Natasha Chethan of Karnataka handled the pressure well at crucial stages to defeat fellow state cueist Varsha Sanjeev, securing a creditable double at the second Heyball National Championships here on Tuesday.
After falling behind 0-2 in the race-to-7 final, the Bengalurean, who won the junior crown a few days earlier, rallied in splendid fashion for a 5-3 victory over an opponent returning from a long hiatus.
In the men’s final on the adjacent table, the determined Laxman Rawat of PSPB outplayed Divya Sharma of Haryana 10-6 to clinch his maiden senior National title in any cue sports format. The 34-year-old from Mumbai, a former World 6-red snooker champion, has reached the final in snooker several times but was never able to clear the final hurdle.
In the women’s title clash, it was Varsha who called the shots early on, taking a quick 2-0 lead. The error-prone Natasha needed to get her act together if she harboured hopes of staying in the contest. The youngster, who turned 18 a little over two weeks ago, fought back gamely.
In the men’s clash, Rawat carried far too many guns for Sharma, racing to a 4-1 lead in the race-to-11 encounter. The PSPB cueist kept the pressure on his rival and extended the lead to 10-4. Sharma made a last-ditch effort by taking the next two racks but ran out of time in the two-hour match, leaving Rawat a convincing winner.
Results:
Men: Final: Laxman Rawat (PSPB) bt Divya Sharma (Har) 10-6.
Third-place playoff: Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Paras Gupta (UP) 6-2.
Semis: Sharma bt Gupta 7-6; Rawat bt Damani 8-4.
Women: Final: Natasha Chethan (Kar) bt Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) 5-3.
Third-place playoff: Shruthi L (TN) bt Vidya Pillai (Kar) 5-0.
Semis: Varsha bt Vidya 4-3; Natasha bt Shruthi 5-2.
Final standings:
Men: 1. Laxman Rawat (PSPB); 2. Divya Sharma (Har); 3. Brijesh Damani (PSPB); 4. Paras Gupta (UP); 5. Kamal Chawla (RSPB); 6. Himanshu Jain (Tel); 7. Abhinav Dhiman (Har); 8. Shivam Arora (Mah).
Women: 1. Natasha Chethan (Kar); 2. Varsha Sanjeev (Kar); 3. Shruthi L (TN); 4. Vidya Pillai (Kar); 5. Amee Kamani (MP); 6. Neena Praveen (TN); 7. Keerthana Pandian (Kar); 8. Anupama Ramachandran (TN).
