India B clinches gold medal in Asian Team Snooker Championship

The Indian 'B' team, including national champion Kamal Chawla, Brijesh Damani and Sparsh Pherwani, clinched the gold medal in the ACBS Team Snooker Championship 2023 in Tehran, Iran.

In the summit clash, the Indians were off to a shaky start as they lost the first two matches, but recovered well to win the next three frames and defeated Hong Kong China 3-2 to emerge champions.

The winning Indian side was coached by former world billiards champion Ashok Shandilya.

India No 1 Chawla made a shaky start and lost to Cheung Ka Wai by a 33-82 frame score. Later, Damani failed to score against Chang Yu Kiu, who recorded a dominating 100-0 win in the second frame, to give Hong Kong a lead of 2-0.

However, in the doubles third frame, Chawla and Damani pulled off a tense win against the pair of Chang Yu Kiu and Tam Yun Fung by 66-29 points to cut the deficit.

Chawla found form to win the fourth frame against Chang Yu Kiu 115-0 and level the frame scores at 2-all and force the decider.

In the fifth frame, Damani snatched a tight win against Cheung Ka Wai by a 66-45 point margin and ensure India’s gold medal.

In the semi-finals, India ‘B’ got the better of Afghanistan 3-2 while Hong Kong China defeated Malaysia 3-1.

The Indian ‘A’ team comprising Pankaj Advani, Aditya Mehta and Laxman Rawat crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing 2-3 to Afghanistan.

Earlier, India’s Rayaan Razmi had won a bronze medal in the Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2023.