CHENNAI: Facing the same opponents in multiple finals has become a routine in the 90th National Snooker and Billiard Championship at Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai as Natasha Chetan (KAR) and Aanya Patel (GUJ) locked horns for the second final in the tournament on Wednesday.
In the end, Natasha clinched her second title of the tournament by beating Aanya 3-1 in the 15 red girl’s sub-junior snooker final. Natasha also won the sub-junior billiard title by beating the same cueist from Gujarat. In junior billiards, L Shruthi defeated Aanya (GUJ) for 179-93. “It was amazing and also a little challenging, but I think I played okay and the result was worth it. Looking forward to a few more,” said Natasha.
Natasha and Aanya had faced each other in the finals of different tournaments a few times.
The 15-year-old cueist, who got into the sport by watching her mother playing pool in Bengaluru, has surprised everyone with her control and dominance over the senior players.
The young prodigy has already secured multiple titles in national and international stages.
“She practices very hard, she will spend around six to seven hours daily at the table. Her passion towards the game helped her to win the titles,” Natasha’s mother Leena Chetan said.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old local cueist Shruthi secured her first national title in the junior category on Wednesday. Shruthi also proved her talent at the national level by winning the sub-junior title last year.
“I feel proud winning for Tamil Nadu in Tamil Nadu itself rather than going to some other state, and because not only there is a homegrown advantage, there are other people, my own people, who are here to support me as well as compared to when I go to other states and play,” said Shruthi.
Earlier in this tournament, Anupama Ramachandran (TN) faced Amee Kamani (MP) in all three finals of the senior women’s category in the tournament. While Amee bagged the 6-red and 15-red snooker, Anupama clinched the Billiards title.