David starts with 5-1 win in International pool championship

David Anderson of South Africa posted a 5-1 win over Indian challenger Anant Mehta in the double elimination event of the First Joy Heyball International Pool Championship, at the Sector 42 Sports Complex Pool Hall.

Laxman Rawat defeated Abhishek Dutta and Sina Valizdeh beat Khan Mafaz Anjum by identical scores of 5-1 each, while in the black-ball shootout, Mohammed Akram recorded win over Raghuvanshi after 4-4 ending. Sundeep Gulati defeated Simran Singh 5-1, and in another black-ball shootout, Ankush Negi defeated Laxman ML. Amee Kamani recorded a 5-3 win over Alok Kumar and Neeraj Bagga beat Ranveer Duggal 4-2. Sumit Talwar defeated Kamal Chawla 4-3.

The first ever international event has been hit by the countrywide trouble in the aviation industry, as owing to heavy cancellation and rescheduling of flights, players couldn’t reach the venue till date. Ishaun Singh, President, World Pool Association, inaugurated the tournament which was to witness participation of 320 top players. Out of the registered participants, as many as 250 had reached Chandigarh so far.

After the opening exhibition match, Rakesh Duggal, former secretary, Chandigarh Billiards and Snooker Association, was awarded the lifetime achievement award for his contribution in the field of local cue sport.