Ace cueist Geet Sethi (centre) with champion Sourav Kothari (left) and Shabaaz Khan at the the East Zone Invitational Snooker Tournament in Bhubaneswar. (Bottom) Sethi demonstrates a few shots on the final day of the event. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 12: The East Zone Invitational Snooker Championship, which was on at the Billiards and Snooker Academy in Patia, came to an exciting end on Sunday.

Talented cueists from all over the east zone took part in the event.

In a thrilling final game against third seed Shabaaz Khan, second seed of the tournament, Sourav Kothari emerged champion.

Eight-time world champion Geet Sethi, who came here to witness the final, was the chief attraction for the players.

Sourav started off with a lead in the match while Shabaaz took over in the fifth round. Both players held it till the last round when a close miss by Shabaaz gave Sourav the edge. Professional as well amateur players watched the evenly contested game with a lot of enthusiasm.

“I’m really thrilled to have won this tournament that featured many major players from the eastern part of the country.

Winning against a senior like Shyam Jagtiani, especially, had given me confidence for the final round. Of course, Shabaaz was in wonderful form and played some amazing shots,” said Sourav.

For Shabaaz, the entire tournament was a special experience.

“It was a good experience. Particularly winning against Brijesh Damani, who was the top seed, and with players like Manish Jain, Subrat Das and the rest was wonderful. I played a bad shot at the end and that cost me the final match. But I’m glad I participated in this tournament,” said Shabaaz.

Earlier in the knockout stages, state senior champion Subrat Das lost in the pre-quarters whereas Nishant Biswal emerged as the only player from the state to reach the quarter-final.

Brijesh Damani and Shyam Jagtiani had made it to the semi-finals.

Veteran cueist Geet Sethi encouraged all the participants and even went on to show some classic shots from billiards and snooker.

He also showed some tricks and suggested tips for young players.

“It is very important for such tournaments to be held to promote cuesports.

“What is impressive is the huge number of young players that are here from various states of the eastern zone,” said Sethi.

Organiser Jiten Sarangi, who was also a participant in the tournament, announced that the Billiards and Snooker Academy would be organising a national invitational championship in September.