Akshay wins title, regains No 1 ranking
LUCKNOW: Playing in the home conditions and at his favourite table made a big difference to Akshay Kumar, who scripted a facile 5-0 win against Anuj Bhargava to win 2nd UP State Open ranking snooker championship, at The Green Baize here on Sunday. Akshay, who has been training at the venue for the last many years, dominated the proceedings from the very beginning and never allowed experienced Anuj even to pose any serious challenge to him while winning by 71 (52)-20, 65 (44)-22, 54-17, 60 (46)-2 and 73 (54)-33. Anuj who defeated firs ranking champion Paras Gupta from Agra in the semi-final seemed to have lost all his steam by the time finals came about. Not once throughout the best of nine frame competition did Anuj look like a threat to Akshay Kumar.
The win, however, helped Akshay regain his UP No 1 position after a year’s gap.
RESULTS
Final: Akshay Kumar bt Anuj Bhargava 5-0 (71 (52)-20; 65 (44)-22; 54-17; 60 (46)-2; 73 (54)-33); Semi-finals: Akshay Kumar bt Ashar Abrar 4-1 (25-73; 73-26; 57-24; 98 (98)-1; 65 (52)-41; Anuj Bhargava bt Paras Gupta 4-2 (W-1; 60-52; 35-54; 7-86 (85); 54-23; 78-34).
AMIT SHINES
Amit Kumar emerged victorious in the Lucknow Open chess championship, at the Shivani Public school here on Sunday. Aditya Pant in the under-15 category and Lavanya Yadav in the girls section bagged titles. Amit won the title on the basis of tie-breaker points as three others Pawan Batham, Sunil Kumar and Vishal Bharti too had six points each along with Amit.