Shandilya wins National billiards

Twice Asian champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways put an end to the winning run of Alok Kumar of Punjab to reign supreme in the Om Kotak Mahindra 68th Senior National billiards championship 2002, at the Gujarat Sports Club, in Ahmedabad, on Friday.

Shandilya won the four-hour final 1149-899.

Alok was looking for a double, having won the National snooker title at the same venue last week.

Both players started cautiously and adopted the 'safety-first' approach. However, it was Shandilya who broke the ice by taking the initial lead with a brilliant break of 130, on his ninth visit. He never looked back after that and swelled his tally with the help of small breaks of 57, 96, 72, 85, and 86, as against just one big break of 106 by Alok, on his 36th visit.

Shandilya earned Rs 15,000 for his triumph while Alok took home Rs 7,500.

Later, Shandilya said it was a memorable victory as he fought psychological pressure from his opponent, who had beaten reigning World champion Geet Sethi of Gujarat in the semi-finals on Thursday.