Defending champ Mubeen given a fright
Defending champion M.M. Mubeen of Army was given a fright as he was made to work hard for his win by C. M. J. Chandrasekera in the pre- quarter final encounter of Six Red Ball Snooker Nationals played at the Galle Cricket Club billiards table yesterday morning.
The three frame encounter saw Chandrasekera taking the lead with a win in the first frame before Mubeen using his experience came back with vengeance to win the remaining two frames to qualify to the quarter- finals.
There was a shocking win recorded by M. Fahim of Sea Endless who got the better of the more fancied and experienced cueist S. H. M. Aslam whom he overhauled with ease by two frames to nil.
Sea Endless had another cueist booking a berth to the quarter-finals in former national snooker champion Susantha Boteju who outclassed Anil Rohana of AAC.
Army apart from Mubeen had two other cueists making it to the quarter-final in S.S. Kumarapperuma who defeated K.H.K. Sachintha of SLPA and Susantha Wickrema who overcame his team T.D. Maduranga.
The other three cueists to qualify to the quarter- finals were M. J. A. Thasleem of AAC, Ashiq Hussain of MICH and M.M. Rikas of BRC with wins over M. Z. A. Zulfy ( MSC), S. S. Dinuruwan ( Army) and Prasanna Pushpakumara (ICSC).
The Six Red Ball Snooker nationals conducted by the Billiards and Snooker Association of Sri Lanka and sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka is being held in the outstations for the first time and played at the YMBA Galle and Galle Cricket Club billiards table.