MUMBAI, June 16: Former National champion Siddharth Rao staged a splendid recovery to stun formidable Roxton Champman of England 5-3 and make the final of the Alpic Om Agrawal Billiards and Snooker tournament at the Cricket Club of India, here today.Rao will now take on Sonic Multani in the title clash. Multani brushed Alok Kumar aside 5-0 in the second semi-final.Trailing 1-3 at the end of a poor first session, Rao came from behind with an improved showing in the latter half to win 14-99, 63-53, 33-61, 37-63, 74-10, 70-2, 76-50, 56-48.Multani began aggressively and kept up the tempo to register a fluent 118-4, 80-49, 76-34, 60-18, 58-15 verdict to book a slot in Wednesday's final where he will defend his title.Rao, a slow starter, showed poor form against the cautious Chapman. He missed a black off the spot and was carried by a tide of luck while clinching the second frame.But Rao, poor form notwhithstanding, assumed a timely attacking role. He won the sixth frame and took a crucial 4-3 lead before winning the next one to clinch the issue.The Englishman was ahead by three points at 48-45 in the eighth frame with only the blue, pink and black remaining. But after he missed the blue on two attempts, Rao returned for a brilliant long pot to the bottom left pocket to win the frame and the match 56-48.The billiards final will be telecast live by Doordarshan on Tuesday, the snooker final on Wednesday. Timings: June 17 (billiards): 1.00 p.m. to 4.00; DD1: 4.00 p.m. to 5.15 p.m.; June 18 (snooker): DD2: 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.Results: Snooker semifinals: Sonic Multani bt Alok Kumar (5-0): 118-4 (Sonic 101), 80-49 (Sonic 80), 76-34 (Sonic 26, 27), 60-18 (Sonic 33), 58-15 (Sonic 20, 33).Siddharth Rao bt Roxton Chapman 5-3: 14-99 (Roxton 44, 55), 63-53, 33-61, 37-63 (Roxton 37), 74-10 (Rao 33), 70-2 (Rao 33), 76-50 (Rao 45), 56-48.BoI heldBank of India (BoI) drew 1-1 with Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilisers (RCF) in the WIFA Super Division football league at the Cooperage, today.Douglas D'Souza scored for the bankmen while Chadrakant Pujari was on target for RCF.United Boys (Sahar) beat Trade India 2-0 in a First Division match at the same venue.After an evenly fought first half , the Sahar outfit took control with second half strikes. Albert Braganza and Sameer Jad scored after the change of ends to put paid to Trade India's resistance.
