Unstoppable Pankaj Advani clinches 9th National Snooker title
Indore, Feb 10: Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on Sunday claimed yet another Senior National Snooker title with a thumping win over young Laxman Rawat in a one-sided final here.
Advani annexed the national title, this time in snooker, taking his total tally of Indian championships to a whopping 32 golds.
After winning 11 Indian titles as a junior, Advani, as a senior, has won nine billiards, three six-red snooker and now nine snooker gold medals.
From a statistical point of view, Advani now has 21 world titles and 21 national titles as a men's player, in both snooker and billiards.
Advani took his younger opponent Rawat to the cleaners with a 6-0 win in the final.
The match was mostly defined by the champion's experience as he brought on a lethal combination of scoring and safety of the highest quality.
The only really close frame was the fourth which could have ended with the scoreline reading 3-1, giving young Rawat an outside chance of a comeback.
But once Advani clinched that too with a fine clearance, it was early curtains for Rawat.
In the women's final, Varshaa Sanjeev gave Bengaluru another reason to rejoice as she joined Advani in winning the snooker national title by defeating Arantxa Sanchis of Maharashtra 4-2.
Sanjeev accounted for the top women cueists in this tournament as she knocked out Amee Kamani in the quarterfinals and Vidya Pillai in the semis.
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India offers condolences over Khamenei's death; Foreign Secretary Misri visits Iran embassy
New Delhi (PTI): India on Thursday condoled the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri conveying to the Iranian ambassador New Delhi's message of sympathy.
Misri visited the Iranian embassy and signed the condolence book on behalf of the government of India.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also released photograph of the foreign secretary's conversation with Iranian envoy to India Mohammad Fathali.
Khamenei was killed in an Israel-US strike on February 28.
Though India called for resolution of the West Asia crisis through dialogue and diplomacy, it chose not to react to Khamenei's killing.
Misri's visit to the Iranian embassy and signing of the condolence book assumed significance as several opposition parties had criticised the government for not reacting to Khamenei's death.
