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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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
