National champion Devendra Joshi displayed tremendous maturity under pressure to defeat Busan Asian Games silver medallist Kwao Oo of Myanmar 4-2 in the semi-finals of the Asian Billiards Championships in Tehran, Iran.
In the final Joshi will play Ang San Oo, also of Myanmar. San Oo upset top seed Praprut C of Thailand by an identical margin of 4-2 on Friday in the event being played in the 100-up format.
In the first game, Joshi wrapped up the frame with a 58 and a 38 break. Joshi won the second with a 48 unfinished (unf) break, when Kwao was on 85.
Both the players were level on 85 in the third game but Joshi missed a sitter to leave Kwao with an easy opening which reduced the margin to 2-1.
Kwao, getting new life, played superbly to make a 100 unf to draw level at 2-2.
In the fifth game it was Kwao, who made a 83 break and missed a red pot in the centre. Seizing the opportunity Joshi ran out with a magnificent 87 unf to lead 3-2.
The sixth game was no different as Kwao once again on a 65 break missed a top pocket in off when needing just 15 points to win.
Once again Joshi displayed great nerves to make an unfinished break of 68 to win the match.
In the Asian Under-21 Snooker championships, being played simultaneously, Lucky Vatnani really failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The youngster from Andhra Pradesh, appearing in his first international event, played great snooker to defeat John Loong of Malaysia 4-0 in his last league encounter.
But the victory did not help him qualify as the loss against a relatively easy opponent from South Korea earlier shut doors on his aspirations to make the knockout stage.
