New Delhi: Junior snooker champion Faisal Khan beat Laxman Rawat in the finals of the inaugural edition of the MEGAPOOL All India Open Snooker Championship 2012. Khan had earlier won the Islam Gymkhana-BSAM Open Snooker tournament in Mumbai this year.
Khan, who was down 2-3 at the end of first session, bounced back to beat Rawat 6-4 (68-10, 35-73, 68-41, 08-77, 51-80, 55-18, 62-32, 37-74, 67-42, 80-64). "I think the fifth frame was very crucial. I was leading but still lost and it kept playing on my mind in the break as he led 3-2. I regained and came back strongly in the second session. Laxman was in good form and had an outstanding tournament. The idea was to keep him under control and the safety play worked."
The tournament which was organized by Delhi's players to honour Rehani's contribution to cue sports and carry forward his legacy, will now be an annual affair with the trophy being a rolling one. Moreover, in a bid to improve the present state of affairs in the Capital city, the players came together and unanimously formed the Delhi Cue Sports Association (affiliation awaited). They also collected and contributed Rs.2 Lakh to the Rehani family at the conclusion of the tournament on Saturday, where Arjuna awardee judoka Yashpal Solanki was the chief guest. The total prize money for the tournament was Rs.1.5 Lakh which included Rs.51,000 for the winner and Rs.21,000 for the runner-up.
"The main purpose of forming DCSA is to promote and encourage cue sports and back promising talent. I was pained to see the dull state of affairs and we decided to take action. I have been an active player for two decades now and very well understand the needs of the players," said Vijay Goel, president of the DCSA.
In the very first year of the tournament, the organizers received over 150 entries. With the inaugural edition kicking off on a bright note, the coming editions will get bigger and better. "The legacy of Mukesh Rehani will continue. We created an ideal playing environment where both the established players and upcoming ones could showcase their skills. Next year, the tournament will be held on a bigger scale. We plan to approach the sponsors and also increase the prize money."
Khan was ecstatic with the huge crowd turnout. "The atmosphere was just fantastic. The crowd support was amazing and I felt as if I was playing the nationals. The hospitality was very good and I am already looking forward to the second edition."
By Indian Sports News Network
