Leading Odisha cuist Subrat Das concluded his eventful Ireland tour with mixed fortune today. He played four tournaments at the SBI Academy of Excellence in Carlow, won one and missed knock-out berths in the other three, including two world championships.

Subrat started his tour at the Irish Open Billiards Championship, where he bowed out from the league stage. He played four matches between April 17 and 19, won two and lost two, including one against 16-time world champion Mike Russell (England).

Subrat created cue sport history for Odisha in the Irish Open Challenge Cup Billiards Tournament, where he won the title with a dramatic victory in the final against fellow Indian Srinu Katipogu.

The Odisha cueist played his third tournament at the World Matchplay Billiards Championship (100 up point format) from April 20 to 24. He won one match and lost two to miss out on a knock-out berth. Subrat lost to Robert Marshall (England) 0-5, beat Akhilesh Mohan (France) 4-1 and lost to Ryan Mears (England) 2-3. His performance was studded with breaks of 89 and 50.

In the fourth and last tournament, which was the all-important IBSF World Billiards Championship (April 25-29), Subrat again missed the knock-out berth, losing two matches out of three at the league stage.

After making a winning start, defeating Ciaran Doyle (Ireland) 540-136, Subrat lost to David Causier, the legendary England cueist, who is regarded as the best billiards player of the modern era, 141-1060. He ended his Ireland tour with a 250-350 loss to Indian opponent Rafath Habib.

Subrat described his foreign tour as a valuable learning experience. “I am very happy to win the Irish Challenge Cup. It will boost my career. I learnt a lot from the other three tournaments where I missed the knock-out berths. I need to practice more and take advanced coaching to improve my billiards techniques. I hope to get proper infrastructure and quality practice in the future,” he opined.
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PHOTO: Odisha cueist Subrat Das poses at the World Billiards Championship in Carlow, Ireland.