Goel prevails over Tandon to reach semis of Delhi state senior billiards championships

NEW DELHI: Vijay Goel, who has represented India twice at the Asian Games, has reached the semi-finals of the Delhi State senior billiards championships at the Baba Billiards Academy in Nirman Vihar here. Goel defeated Ravi Tandon, secretary of the Delhi Billiards and Snooker Association (DBSA), in straight frames.
Goel, president of the DBSA, won 101-45, 100-31 and 102-54. It was a record 45th appearance for 76-year-old Tandon, who has played all the Delhi state billiards championship held so far.The winner and runner up of the championship will represent Delhi at the Nationals, to be held in Indore early next month.
The tournament carries a total prize money of Rs 1 lakh. The tournament is being played in sub-junior boys, junior snooker, junior billiards, senior snooker, senior billiards, Masters snooker, 6-Red snooker and 15-Red snooker.
The championship is dedicated to legendary Wilson Jones - a professional player of English billiards from India who won the amateur World Championships twice in 1958 and 1964. Jones, a Arjuna awardee in 1963, Padma Shri in 1965, and Dronacharya in 1996, was the first Indian to be a World champion in any sport. He passed away on October 4, 2003.