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Double Asian Games gold medallist Ashok Shandilya of India suffered a shock 2-3 defeat against the formidable Aung San Oo of Myanmar in a thrilling Group 'C' match, as Indians experienced mixed fortunes in the fourth Asian Billiards Championship, sponsored by Idea Cellular, ONGC & BPCL, at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana, in Pune on Monday.
In the match of the day, Shandilya got off to a dream start by bagging the opening frame, which included a significant break of 97 in the 100-up, best-of-five frames contest. While it inspired the Indian, Aung San quickly resolved to fight back.
Aung San, a doubles bronze medalist at the Busan Asian Games, won the next frame to level the score, but Shandilya took the lead for the second time with a brilliant 96 break to set the stage for a humdinger.
Ignoring the loss of the third, Aung San came back brilliantly with an unfinished 100 in the fourth, his game revealing stunning precision play and potting.
Trailing 84-92 in the fifth and final frame, Shandilya had his chance but lost position. Aung San, who unraveled a brilliant cannon off two cushions moments earlier, seized his opportunity and sealed a crucial win that could change his fortunes and mar the Indian's.
In another close encounter, B. Bhaskar stretched last year's runner-up Kyaw Oo, also of Myanmar, before going down 2-3 in Group 'B'.
Defending champion Devendra Joshi and Saurav Kothari made amends for the Indians with fluent 3-0 wins in Group 'A' and Group 'C', respectively.
Results: (breaks in bracket):
Group A: Khin Mg Oo (Myanmar) bt K.H. Sirisoma (SL) 3-0 [100-52, 101-63, 100(89)-32]; Devendra Joshi (India) bt S. Thawat (Thailand) 3-1 [100-65, 100(54, 46 unf)-41, 22-101, 101(36, 65 unf)-68(68)] ; Khin Mg Oo bt Wan-Sun Lee (Korea) 3-0 [101-76, 101(52)-46, 100(62)-27].
Group B: W.A.J. Weerasinghe (SL) bt Ang Boon C. Tommy (Singapore) 3-0 [100-34, 100-43, 101-71]; Kyaw Oo (Myanmar) bt B. Bhaskar (India) 3-2 [45-101(75), 101(51)-24, 4-100(74), 100(50)-44, 101(99)-84(84)]; Rishabh Thakkar (India) bt W.A.J. Weerasinghe (SL) 3-0 [100(57)-52, 101(48)-72, 101-65].
Group C: Sourav Kothari (India) bt Lim Jia Sheng (Singapore) 3-0 [101(60)-28, 101(71)-42, 101(49 unf)-93]; C. Praput (Thailand) bt Imran Shahzad (Pak) 3-0 [101(51, 50 unf)-4, 103(76 unf)-5, 100(72)-16]; Aung San Oo (Myanmar) bt Ashok Shandilya (India) 3-2 [11-100(97), 100(78)-14, 66(66)-101(96), 100(100 unf)-8, 102(61)-86(55)]; Sourav Kothari bt Seung Chil Park (Korea) 3-0[101(44)-57(45), 100(60)-20, 100-33]; Imran Shahzad (Pak) bt Lim Jia Sheng (Singapore) 3-2 [101-49, 75-100, 100-60, 34-100, 100-98].