Pankaj tames Kamal for title

Kamal tested the champion for some time when he took three frames and held him under check in the tenth frame with some tactical play, but in the end the 18-time World Champion’s wealth of experience came to the fore at the right time as he won the battle with three frames left. 

The last frame was slightly difficult with three reds close to the cushion out of which two would decide the frame. Pankaj managed a break of 35 and put the cue ball behind the black after sending the red closer to the bottom cushion. Kamal was forced to make a foul. With 27 points left on the table and sitting pretty on a 46-12 lead, Pankaj took command and wrapped up the frame in style. 

Kamal had opened the match with a stupendous break of 65 to take the lead. Pankaj took the next frame to level 1-1. In the third frame, Kamal made a break of 45 to take the lead again by 2-1. Pankaj replied by winning the next two consecutive frames to lead by 3-2. Kamal levelled the frames at 3-3 by playing good pots. In the seventh frame, Pankaj came back into the frame after needing a snooker and cleared the table to take the lead by 4-3. Pankaj accelerated after this as he made a break of 70 to lead 5-3. Then a break of 41 helped him lead 6-3. 

“It feels great to end the year on a high. It was an important tournament as the ranking enables us to represent India in the Asian championship. I’m glad that I did it and won in style,“ said Pankaj. “Kamal is a great player, and it was never easy to best him here in the finals,” he added. 

“I was struggling and it wasn’t easy for me today. Both of us got chances and he capitalized on them the most,” said Kamal after the final. “Safety play is very important against Pankaj, and I could’ve done better,” he added. 

In the semi-finals, Pankaj defeated Sourav Kothari of PSPB comfortably by 6-2 in the best of 11 frames format. In the other semi-final, Kamal edged past against Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh 6-5.