In the middle of a brilliant run, India’s Amee Kamani kick-started her campaign with a comfortable 5-3 win over compatriot Alok Kumar on the opening day of the Joy Heyball International Open in Chandigarh on Sunday.
The 33-year-old World Championship bronze medallist from Indore was on top of her game in the ‘Race to 5’ first round against the seasoned cueist from Punjab in the first round of the double-elimination mixed tournament.
Widely recognised for excelling in almost all cue sports disciplines, much like her fancied opponent, Amee played solid right through and didn’t give Alok much of a chance. Despite the setback, Alok has a chance to come through the ‘losers’ bracket’ (read repechage).
Earlier, Asian champion Sundeep Gulati hardly broke sweat in his opening match, outclassing fellow Indian Simran Singh 5-1.
South African David Anderson too had it easy in his first-round match, scoring a lopsided 5-1 win over India’s Anant Mehta.
Select results (Day 1, Indians unless specified): David Anderson (RSA) bt Anant Mehta 5-1; Laxman Rawat bt Abhishek Dutta 5-1; Sina Valizdeh (Irn) bt Khan Mafaz Anjum 5-1; Mohd Akram bt Anand Raghuvanshi 4-4 (Shootout); Sundeep Gulati bt Simran Singh 5-1; Ankush Negi bt ML Lakshman 4-4 (Shootout); Amee Kamani bt Alok Kumar 5-3; Neeraj Bagga bt Ranveer Duggal 4-2.
