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Boteju
holds on to No.1 snooker ranking
By
M Naushad Amit
Reigning national snooker champion Susantha
Boteju of YMCA evaded threats from his
counterparts to regain his place in the national listing
at the ongoing ranking tournament held among the top
16 snooker players in the country at the Billiards &
Snooker Association headquarters at Reid Avenue yesterday.
However Boteju will have to face Ryan Somaratne of Otters
in his final 7-frame match in the final round at 4.00
pm today while Prasanna Pushpakumara of YMBA and Pani
Somaratne of Health Sports Club will compete in another
final round match.
“I have won all my matches with heavy margins.
At the moment my position as the No.1 snooker player
in Sri Lanka is secured. If Ryan (Somaratne) can create
an upset he has a chance of becoming No.2. but Pushpakumara
has played better in the tournament. I will not take
Somaratne lightly,” Boteju said after he won the
first two matches against other group leaders.
The top 16 cueists were divided into four groups and
the top player in each group had to play each other
for the first four positions. An overall review on their
winning margins will decide the first in the national
top 16 while the rest have been ranked according to
the winning margins of their group matches. Boteju won
his group matches and two of his top four matches without
much hindrance to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Pushpakumara lost only his final round match to Boteju
while winning against Somaratne in a close contest.
While Boteju has already secured his reigning position
and a close tussle can be expected for the second and
third positions between Pushpakumara and Somaratne,
the fourth slot will be filled by Pani Somaratne who
lost his matches in the final round yesterday.
The Top Four: Prasanna Pushpakumara (YMBA) beat
Ryan Somaratna (OAC) 4/3 (64/33, 72/33, 28/63, 76/34,
8/70, 55/80, 60/39); Susantha Boteju (YMCA) beat Dr.
APP Somaratna (Health SC) 4/0 (w/o, 69/25, 75/11, 110/7);
Susantha Boteju (YMCA) beat Prasanna Pushpakumara (YMBA)
4/0 (70/63, 65/26, 70/6, 59/17); Ryan Somaratna (OAC)
beat Dr. APP Somaratna (Health SC) 4/1 (60/37, 56/14,
52/24, 35/56, w/o);
Round Robin:
Susantha Boteju (YMCA) beat SR Gunasekera (EPP) 4/0
(63/13, 50/28, 57/17, 70/37); Susantha Boteju (YMCA)
beat SHM Aslam (MSC) 4/1 (61/37, 57/65, 56/23, 71/62,
66/52); Dr. APP Somaratna (Health SC) beat MRT Chandana
(YMCA) 4/1 (56/33, 52/46, 56/11, 42/52, 50/43); KH Sirisoma
(SLPA) beat S. Samarawickrama (Colts) 4/0 (62/22, 48/25,
60/57, 65/43); Prasanna Pushpakumara (YMBA) beat SM
Zulfikar 4/2 (69/10, 68/33, 78/25, 20/78, 3/62, 68/37);
SHM Aslam (MSC) beat SR Gunasekera (EPP) 4/0 (79/47,
72/48, 45/33, 49/9); MRT Chandana (YMBA) beat Anil Rohana
(Carlton BC) 4/2 (45/35, 27/46, 27/58, 55/48, 58/54,
51/32); Prasanna Pushpakumara (YMBA) beat Nimal de Silva
(Grand Hotel N’Eliya) 4/3 (53/67, 54/20, 48/40,
61/50, 33/64, 18/62, 76/52).
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