Eight cueists advance to knockout stage
The preliminary round matches of the 69th National Billiards Championship, which is in progress now at the Billiards and Snooker Association headquarters billiards table at the Sugathadasa Hotel in Colombo has reached its last stages.
By yesterday, eight cueists from the eight groups, namely defending champion K.H. Sirisoma (SLPA), M.J.A. Thasleem (AAC), S.H.M. Aslam (MSC), M.M. Mubeen (Army), M. Uvais (Galle CC), Prasanna Pushpakumara (MICH), Anil Rohana (AAC) and M. Jiffrey (Galle CC) qualified to the knockout stage after winning two out of the three matches they played.
M.M. Mubeen of Army in action yesterday - Pic by Amila Gamage
Meanwhile, Pushpakumara (MICH), Anil Rohana (AAC), Aslam (MSC), Thasleem (AAC), Thusitha Nadeep (Army), Mubeen (Army), Gamini Devapriya (YMCA), S.M. Shaharwadie (MSC) and M. Nasoordeen (MICH) won their matches which were played yesterday.
The first round matches are scheduled to be completed tomorrow while the pre-quarter finals are slotted to be played on December 17 and 18. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played on December 19 and 20. The competition will come to an end on December 21 with the final.
Results:
Rohitha de Silva (SLPA) beat S. Dinuruwan (Army) 3-0 (100/60, 100/80. 100/99); Anil Rohana (AAC) beat Omar Haniff (MSC) 3-1 (100/80, 84/101, 105/72, 101/45); Prasanna Pushpakumara (MICH) beat Susantha Wickrama (Army) 3-1 (41/102, 100/95, 100/53, 100/37); Faizal Haniffa (MSC) beat K.A.R. Samandisi (Army) 3-0 (100/84, 101/77, 102/53); A.A. Kareem (MSC) w/o from S.I. Hinoon (MICH); D. Seneviratne (YMBA) w/o from Abdul Sattar (MSC); S.H.M. Aslam (MSC) beat M. Rimzan (Army) 3-1 (94/101, 102/81, 101/30, 102/11); M.J.A. Thasleem (AAC) beat R.M. Ratnayake (Army) 3-0 (101/48, 100/79, 101/66); Thusitha Nadeep (Army) beat A.D.R. Alwis (Army) 3-2 (96/101, 101/77, 57/102, 101/74, 100/38); M.M. Mubeen (Army) beat Lakshan Samarasinghe (OAC) 3-0 (101/78, 102/39, 100/95); Gamini Devapriya (YMCA) beat M. Nasoordeen (MICH) 3-1 (100/85, 100/72, 85/102, 100/51); S.M. Shaharwadie (MSC) beat S. Kumarapperuma (Army) 3-0 (100/96, 100/65, 100/91); M. Nasoordeen (MICH) beat Omar Haniff (MSC) 3-1 (100/88, 102/52, 69/102, 100/82).