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Snooker nationals
It’s Boteju for the ninth time
By M. Shamil Amit
YMCA's Susantha Boteju the reigning snooker national champion clinched the snooker national title for the ninth time when he outclassed MSC's S.H.M. Aslaam by seven frames to three in the final played at the Billiard and Snooker Association (BSASL) headquarters in Reid Avenue yesterday.

The 13 frame final conducted by the BSASL and sponsored by the Sumathi Group of Companies for the sixth year was played for the U.W. Sumathipala memorial trophy with a cash award of Rs. 25000/- to the winner and Rs. 15000/- to the runner up.

The finals played over two sessions got underway at 11.00 a.m. with the first session being played over eight frames. Boteju laid the foundation in his quest to retaining the title when he took a two frame lead in the first session with scores of five frames to three. The hall was packed to capacity with spectators never seen in a snooker final for many years.

Most of them anticipated an easy win for Boteju but it was not to be as Aslaam had other ideas and gave his opponent some anxious moments and gave the spectators something to enjoy.

As expected it was Boteju who settled into the match very quickly and was the first to register on the scoreboard when he coasted to a convincing 72-53 win in the first frame. But Aslaam not to be outdone quickly levelled with a 69-41 win in the second frame. Boteju using his vast experience came back to take the third frame 65-41. The gritty Aslaam was not prepared to go down without a fight pulling off a 75-61 win in the fourth.

With the two players sharing two frames each a tense battle was in store and the eight time national champ sent Aslaam witch hunting when he gave a double blow to Aslaam winning the fifth and sixth frames with scores of 68-27 and 66-58. But Aslaam continued his resistance and showed he is not easy meat by winning the seventh frame 71-50 to get closer.

The last frame of the first session saw the two players going neck to neck with scores on 26-22 in favor of Boteju, but a vital mistake by Aslaam gave Boteju the opportunity to clean the table as he completed a 51 break with only the black ball remaining which was sufficient for him to win the frame 77-22.

The second session which got underway at 6.00 p.m. and Aslaam was expected to give Boteju some resistance but the reigning champ seemed not willing to take any chances as he never gave Aslaam to raise his head when he cruised through to an easy 88-25 win in the ninth frame.

Boteju inspired by this win worked himself out in the penultimate frame and seemed to be in a hurry to finish off the game and that’s just what he did as he wrapped the frame with two breaks of 37 and 32 to win the frame with almost the identical score of 88-29 to win the tenth and frame and the title.

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