Gallant effort by Ceylon Player
By a Staff Reporter
After a somewhat shaky start , title holder Chandra Hirjee chalked up a magnificent break of 337 in the second session on Thursday night to defeat the Ceylon expert M. J. M. Lafir , by 2,210 points to 1,172 . Thus did he qualify for the semi-final of the National Billiards Championship at the Great Eastern Hotel .
In this break there was everything from the most complicated screw stroke to the simple half-ball cannon , the champion’s touch being so delicate as to exercise complete control over the balls whether they were in the middle or at the top of the table .
And yet this break might have reached epic proportion if Hirjee had not missed a simple losing hazard at the top of the table when the balls were well positioned for the pot red and cannon sequence . The red ball , which seemed destined to sink , suddenly came to rest at the edge of the pocket and that was that .
As a matter of fact this happened to Hirjee twice before in the match . In the second hour of play during the first session , he made a break of 109 . The break ended when he tried to cut the red into one of the top pockets and found to be chagrin that the ball hit the jaw of the pocket ands refused to go down .
A little later when he chalked up 126 he missed a simple half-ball cannon from baulk , the red settling over one of the top pockets for Lafir to sink . But Lafir unfortunately failed to take full advantage of these gifts .
This break of Hirjee’s was his highest ever in the National Billiards Championship , his previous highest being 265 compiled in 1995 . Hirjee , however , has to his credit breaks of 308 and 329 in the West Bengal State Championships which he has won for five years successfully . The National record of 440 , also set in 1995 , is held by Wilson Jones .
So much for Hirjee , Lafir was clearly beaten but his play had much in it that was commendable . Playing with plenty of drag on the cue-ball he maneuvered the balls well in position while playing cannons and losing hazards but was nowhere near the Champion’s classin top-table play . Lafir , incidently , holds the National Snooker title and great things are expected of him when he defends it . He had the distinction of making one century break in the first session .
Hirjee was not at his best in the early stages and at least for the first hour Lafir was able to keep pace with him . At one stage during the first hour Hirjee was leading by 100 points but Lafir , in a fine spell of consistent play , managed to come within reach of his opponent .
But Hirjee went ahead again with breaks of 109 and 126 in the second hour and the interval came he was leading by 963 to 632 points . Lafir being 66 at play . After the interval Hirjee came more into his own and after missing a century break by one , chalked up his big break in the 17th visit to run out an easy winner .
Best breaks of the night were :-
Hirjee : 53 , 110 , 58 , 109 , 126 , 70 , 50 , 56 , 99 , 64 , 337 , 52 .
Lafir : 52 , 65 , 100 , 79 , 53 .
TODAY’S MATCH
BILLIARDS –
M. MULLICK (Bengal) v RAFIQ DINA (Bombay) – 5-30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
By a Staff Reporter
After a somewhat shaky start , title holder Chandra Hirjee chalked up a magnificent break of 337 in the second session on Thursday night to defeat the Ceylon expert M. J. M. Lafir , by 2,210 points to 1,172 . Thus did he qualify for the semi-final of the National Billiards Championship at the Great Eastern Hotel .
In this break there was everything from the most complicated screw stroke to the simple half-ball cannon , the champion’s touch being so delicate as to exercise complete control over the balls whether they were in the middle or at the top of the table .
And yet this break might have reached epic proportion if Hirjee had not missed a simple losing hazard at the top of the table when the balls were well positioned for the pot red and cannon sequence . The red ball , which seemed destined to sink , suddenly came to rest at the edge of the pocket and that was that .
As a matter of fact this happened to Hirjee twice before in the match . In the second hour of play during the first session , he made a break of 109 . The break ended when he tried to cut the red into one of the top pockets and found to be chagrin that the ball hit the jaw of the pocket ands refused to go down .
A little later when he chalked up 126 he missed a simple half-ball cannon from baulk , the red settling over one of the top pockets for Lafir to sink . But Lafir unfortunately failed to take full advantage of these gifts .
This break of Hirjee’s was his highest ever in the National Billiards Championship , his previous highest being 265 compiled in 1995 . Hirjee , however , has to his credit breaks of 308 and 329 in the West Bengal State Championships which he has won for five years successfully . The National record of 440 , also set in 1995 , is held by Wilson Jones .
So much for Hirjee , Lafir was clearly beaten but his play had much in it that was commendable . Playing with plenty of drag on the cue-ball he maneuvered the balls well in position while playing cannons and losing hazards but was nowhere near the Champion’s classin top-table play . Lafir , incidently , holds the National Snooker title and great things are expected of him when he defends it . He had the distinction of making one century break in the first session .
Hirjee was not at his best in the early stages and at least for the first hour Lafir was able to keep pace with him . At one stage during the first hour Hirjee was leading by 100 points but Lafir , in a fine spell of consistent play , managed to come within reach of his opponent .
But Hirjee went ahead again with breaks of 109 and 126 in the second hour and the interval came he was leading by 963 to 632 points . Lafir being 66 at play . After the interval Hirjee came more into his own and after missing a century break by one , chalked up his big break in the 17th visit to run out an easy winner .
Best breaks of the night were :-
Hirjee : 53 , 110 , 58 , 109 , 126 , 70 , 50 , 56 , 99 , 64 , 337 , 52 .
Lafir : 52 , 65 , 100 , 79 , 53 .
TODAY’S MATCH
BILLIARDS –
M. MULLICK (Bengal) v RAFIQ DINA (Bombay) – 5-30 p.m. and 8 p.m.