S. Shrikrishna became the new World 6-red snooker champion, defeating Habib Sabah 5-1 in an one-sided best of nine frames final in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Repeating his tremendous form that he showed on Monday in the semifinals, Shrikrishna mesmerised the audience with his characteristic blistering attack from the word go.
The first frame witnessed Shrikrishna going ahead with a lead of 25 points with only 22 points remaining on the table. Habib needed one snooker to return to the game but in spite of many attempts couldn’t trap Shrikrishna, who kept on breaking the snooker and ultimately cleared from brown ball onwards to win the first frame.
A missed long shot by Shrikrishna offered Habib a good opening. With careful planning Habib executed a break of 37. Failing to make a comeback Shrikrishna conceded the frame when he required two snooker.
In the third frame, a desperate long pot attempt by Habib on first visit allowed Shrikrishna to see again in phenomenal form who cleared the table with a delectable break of 63. Leading 2-1 the 22-year-old continued his attack with utmost precision and high success rate of potting and clinching the frame comfortably.
In the fourth frame, Shrikrishna with the help of tactical game and a judicious mix of potting and safety play went ahead with a small and useful run to lead 3-1. With brilliant cuemanship and precise positioning, Shrikrishna continued his assault in the 5th frame with an amazing long pull back on red followed by yet another match winning break of 45 executed in a whirlwind fashion.
By the time, Habib was completely rattled and made another mistake of attempting a no-need long pot and offered Shrikrishna another opening. The Indian made no mistake at the juncture and unfolded his vast repertoire of strokes, worked his way through to make another frame and match winning break of 39.
Shrikrishna said: “Winning the World 6-red snooker championship gold is a great blessing for me. 6 reds is typically anybody’s game because after two visits of safety very often the balls are open on the table. It is a great honour to wear the National flag after winning the gold for the country.”
Shrikrishna rated his pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal matches against reigning world snooker champion Ahsan Ramazan and a seasoned James Wattana respectively as being tough. Against the 17-year-old Ramzan I fought back from 1-3 to win 4-3. The seasoned James Watanna wasn’t showing a red to me and he wasn’t missing the opportunities. Especially with his pro-circuit experience, I learnt a lot watching his safety,” he said.
The 22-year-old thanked his Club SVS, Tamil Nadu Billiards & Snooker Association for supporting him during the preparation, his parents and father-coach N. Suryanarayanan. “I would also like to thank the Billiards & Snooker Federation India team and National coaches Manoj Kothari, Ashok Shandilya for their valuable inputs,” he added.
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