International cueist Ashutosh Padhy retained the billiards title in the 28th Odisha State Senior Billiards & Snooker Championship at Cuttack Club in Cuttack today. This was the fifth State Senior billiards title for Ashutosh, who achieved it by defeating his Bhubaneswar opponent Kunal Agarwal in the final 4-0.

Being the State champion and runner-up, Ashutosh and Kunal will represent Odisha in the Senior National Championship to be held later this year in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

A total of nine cueists vied for the title in the State Senior billiards competition. The two-day billiards tournament featured a total of eight matches. The championship is being organised by Odisha State Billiards & Snooker Association (BSAO).

The billiards event will be followed by snooker competition from October 30 to November 6. As many as 39 players have submitted entries for the snooker contest. The top three finishers in snooker will be eligible to represent Odisha in upcoming National championship.

BILLIARDS RESULTS: First-round: Sameer Ali beat Vishesh Singhal 2-0. Quarterfinals: Ashutosh Padhy beat Sameer Ali 2-0; Subrat Das beat Avinash Mahapatra 2-0; Kunal Agarwal beat Chirag Arora 2-1; Chiranjeev Singh beat Sidhant Manek 2-0. Semifinals: A Padhy beat C Singh 3-0; K Agarwal beat S Das 3-1. Final: A Padhy beat K Agarwal 4-0.
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PHOTO: Ashutosh Padhy (Left) and Kunal Agarwal pose after final match in the State Senior Billiards Championship in Cuttack on 29 October 2022.