Raju Kanabar recorded an impressive 2-0 victory over Ramesh Lathigra to book a place in the Division A final of the May A.A Powers and Tools Snooker Tournament.
The veteran player displayed excellent skills to overcome April champion Ramesh Lathigra in a closely contested match played on Friday night at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club (DGC).
This is the first time Kanabar featured in a snooker final this year. Despite Friday’s splendid show Kanabar faces a big test in the final against Suril Shah or Kalpesh Lavingia who were in action in the second semi-final match yesterday evening.
In-form Kanabar, playing off handicap -14, gave his opponent seven points prior to the start of each frame, but still managed to beat him in style. Lathigra lost both frames at black to win.
“It was a tough game. As you can see I took both frames with black to win, I’m now happy and looking forward to repeating the same in the final,” said Kanabar joyfully. Lathigra, who had extreme pressure before the game, could not show his last month’s strength that earned him the trophy and Kanabar deserve the win.
“I faced a tough challenge, it is not easy to meet a player of Kanabar’s calibre when he is in his best form, it is going to be hard and I actually don’t know my fate,” Lathigra had predicted prior to the match on Friday.
He said that a few mistake he committed during the match cost him dearly. “In the second frame I tried to fight back but at the end I gave my opponent a good chance to finish the game,” said Lathigra.
Kanabar is now left with only a few miles before he ends a two-month jinx if all goes well tonight.
Source Tanzania Daily News