Odisha Cuesports icon Asutosh Padhy emerged champion in the Baulkline 4.0 Odisha Zonal Qualifying Snooker Tournament, which was hosted by Billiards & Snooker Association (BSAO) at Vintage Club in Bhubaneswar from 12 to 14 April 2025. Former sub-junior and junior National champion Padhy beat Rakesh Roshan Pradhan in the final 4-1 (72-0, 46-67, 75-0, 100-1, 70-14).

Earlier in the semifinals, Padhy beat Amiya Ranjan Nayak 4-0 (79-45, 69-10, 83-5, 68-21), while Pradhan got the better of Siddharth Sen 4-1 (41-47, 70-26, 74-27, 66-46, 70-27). Padhy also registered the highest break of the tournament with 95 points in his pre-quarterfinal match against Sudipta Dash.

Padhy received a cash prize of Rs 10,000, while runner-up Pradhan was given Rs 9,000. The three-day qualifying tournament, featuring 32 cueists, was inaugurated in the presence of BSAO secretary Sameer Ali, tournament director Govind Sharma, Vintage Club founder Amiya Ranjan Nayak and Baulkline Odisha Zone organising in-charge Nishant Biswal.

Baulkline 4.0 is an all-India snooker tournament, the zonal qualifiers of which are taking place across the country. Organised by National Sports Club of India (NSCI) Mumbai, under the aegis of Billiards & Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), the tournament will conclude with the finals (Main draw) in Mumbai from 28 April 2025.

One of the most lucrative snooker tournaments of the country, the fourth edition of Baulkline Tournament offers a cash award of Rs 5 lakh for the champion and Rs 2.5 lakh for the runner-up. Losing semifinalists will be richer by Rs 1.25 lakh each, while the losing quarterfinalists will pocket Rs 60,000 each.

Indian cuesports legend Pankaj Advani is the defending champion. He won the title, defeating Ishpreet Singh in the previous edition. The main draw of the upcoming fourth edition will feature the top 128 players of the country, including 64 from 32 zonal qualifying tournaments. The other 64 will get direct entry.

Four cueists from Odisha will be competing in the Mumbai Finals. Among the four, Asutosh Padhy and Rakesh Roshan Pradhan became eligible as Odisha Zonal Qualifying champion and runner-up respectively. Former Odisha State snooker champions Subrat Das and Nishant Biswal have been given direct entries.
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PHOTO: Baulkline 4.0 Odisha Zonal Qualifying Tournament champion Asutosh Padhy (Right) and runner-up Rakesh Roshan Pradhan pose respective trophies in Bhubaneswar on 14 April 2025.