Rasheed in thrilling win over reigning national champ Boteju
Army’s M.S.M. Rasheed emerged champion at the Colombo YMCA Invitation Open Snooker Championship when he recorded a stunning and thrilling five frames to four win in the nine frame final over reigning national snooker champion Susantha Boteju at the YMCA billiard table in Colombo yesterday evening.
M.S.M. Rasheed of Army finally brought the winning streak of Susantha Boteju to an end - pic by M.D. Nissanka
Rasheed overcame Aslam and Somaratna with ease by recording a three frames to nil against Aslam in the five frame encounter and four frames to nil against Somaratna in the seven frame semi final. Boteju in his semi final encounter against young M.F.M. Fazil of MICH underwent some anxious moments before pulling off a four frames to three win.
The nine frame final was bound to end in a close tussle when Rasheed took an early two frame lead before Boteju used his experience to the hilt by taking the third, fourth, fifth and sixth frames to go into the lead 4-2 and had only to pocket one more frame to clinch the title.
But the gutty Rasheed left with the daunting task of winning the remaining three frames, undeterred played a well calculated and patience game. Rasheed decrease his opponent’s lead by winning the seventh frame with ease which put Boteju under pressure. He then made it four each by taking the eighth frame and then in the deciding frame Rasheed cruised through to a convincing 68-43 victory to clinch his first major snooker title.
Meanwhile in the preliminary tournament which was conducted prior to the main tournament saw M.F.M. Fazil of MICH emerge champion with a four frames to two win against his club mate M.F.M. Fahim. The completion of the preliminary tournament saw the cueists who booked a berth to the pre-quarter finals qualifying to play along with the top 16 ranked national players in the main tournament.
The tournament organized by YMCA saw 144 players in the fray with 128 taking part in the preliminary tournament and the remaining 16 in the main tournament.The winner of the preliminary tournament received a trophy and a cash award of Rs. 10,000/- while the runner up received a cash award of Rs. 5,000/-.
The winner of the main tournament received a trophy and a cash award of Rs. 50,000/- and the runner-up a cash award of Rs. 25,000/- while the second runner-up and third runner-up will receive cash awards of Rs. 10,000/- and Rs. 5,000/- respectively.
- MSA
Result
Quarter-finals: Susantha Boteju (YMCA) beat M.Z.A. Zulfy 3-1 (55/41, 70/03, 17/54, 76/31); M.S.M. Rasheed (Army) beat S.H.M. Aslam (MSC) 3-0 (68/35, 54/52, 64/20); M.F.M. Fazil (MICH) beat M.L.M. Fazal (MSC) 3-0 (62/22, 54/33, 56/46); Ryan Somaratna (YMBA) beat M.M. Mubeen (Army) 3-2 (26/54, 71/01, 72/45, 20/53, 51/26).
Semi-finals: Susantha Boteju (YMCA) beat M.F.M. Fazil (MICH) 4-3 (07/76, 71/42, 59/17, 71/25, 32/54, 22/59, 68/42); M.S.M. Rasheed (Army) beat Ryan Somaratana (YMBA) 4-0 (67/32, 81/52, 57/25, 56/06).
Third Place Playoff: M.F.M. Fazil (MICH) beat Ryan Somaratna (YMBA) 2-1 (64/16, 36/52, 56/18).
Final: M.S.M. Rasheed (Army) beat Susantha Boteju (YMCA) 5-4 (70/57, 63/36, 29/58, 30/50, 22/86, 37/40, 73/48, 53/37, 68/43).
Preliminary Round final: M.F.M. Fazil (MICH) beat M.F.M. Fahim (MICH) 4-2 (71/45, 56/07, 56/42, 43/68, 32/51, 59/53).