Natasha downs Varsha to complete splendid double, Rawat bags men’s title at Heyball Natls

Natasha Chethan of Karnataka handled the pressure well during crucial points to defeat fellow state cueist Varsha Sanjeev, securing a creditable double at the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun on Tuesday.

After falling behind 0-2 in the race-to-7 final, the Bengalurean, who won the junior crown days earlier, rallied in splendid fashion for a 5-3 victory against an opponent returning from a long hiatus.

In the men’s final on the adjacent table, the determined Laxman Rawat of PSPB outplayed Divya Sharma of Haryana 10-6 for his maiden senior National title in any cue sports format. The 34-year-old from Mumbai, a former World 6-red snooker champion, has made the final in snooker several times, but was never able to clear the final hurdle.

Varsha downs Amee, to meet Vidya in semis; Natasha advances in Heyball Nationals

In the women’s title clash, it was Varsha who called the shots early on, taking a quick 2-0 lead. The error-prone Natasha needed to get her act together if she harboured hopes of staying in the contest. The youngster, who turned 18 a little over two weeks ago, fought back gamely.

Despite not being at her best, Natasha took the third rack rather comfortably. She hung on grimly after Varsha did the frontrunning in the fourth rack to draw level. Having spent over two months on the road playing consecutive tournaments, the tall cueist found her rhythm in the fifth to lead 3-2 for the first time.

Varsha, who dethroned defending champion Vidya Pillai of Karnataka in the morning semifinals, levelled the score in the next rack. In a match of small margins, Natasha claimed the seventh rack, where the black wobbled at the jaw before disappearing into the top right-hand pocket.

The next rack could have gone either way, but Natasha got lucky as Varsha committed a foul by going in-off on the last striped ball. The junior champion then made a gritty run to take the rack and the match for a memorable double.

In the men’s clash, Rawat carried far too many guns for Sharma, jumping to a 4-1 lead in the race-to-11 encounter. The PSPB cueist kept the pressure on his rival and took a 10-4 lead. Sharma made a last-ditch effort by taking the next two racks but ran out of time in the two-hour match, leaving Rawat a runaway victor.

Results: Men (final): Laxman Rawat (PSPB) beat Divya Sharma (Har) 10-6. Third-place playoff: Brijesh Damani (PSPB) beat Paras Gupta (UP) 6-2. Semifinals: Sharma beat Gupta 7-6; Rawat beat Damani 8-4.

Women (final): Natasha Chethan (Kar) beat Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) 5-3. Third-place playoff: Shruthi L (TN) beat Vidya Pillai (Kar) 5-0. Semifinals: Varsha beat Vidya 4-3; Natasha beat Shruthi 5-2.

Final standings: Men: 1. Laxman Rawat (PSPB); 2. Divya Sharma (Har); 3. Brijesh Damani (PSPB); 4. Paras Gupta (UP); 5. Kamal Chawla (RSPB); 6. Himanshu Jain (Tel); 7. Abhinav Dhiman (Har); 8. Shivam Arora (Mah).

Women: 1. Natasha Chethan (Kar); 2. Varsha Sanjeev (Kar); 3. Shruthi L (TN); 4. Vidya Pillai (Kar); 5. Amee Kamani (MP); 6. Neena Praveen (TN); 7. Keerthana Pandian (Kar); 8. Anupama Ramachandran (TN).