Asutosh Padhy justified his reputation as the most decorated cueist of Odisha when he won the title in the BSAO All Odisha 10-Red Snooker Championship, which concluded at 6Pockets Club in Bhubaneswar today. A former National sub-junior and junior champion, Asutosh defeated Aakash Mohapatra in the final by 4-2 frames.

After losing the first frame 41-53, Aakash bounced back to win the second 35-24. As the match progressed, Asutosh took the upper hand, winning the next two frames 57-6 and 55-37. But Aakash stayed the match by taking the hard-fought fifth frame 34-33. However, Asutosh was unstoppable in the sixth frame as he won it 56-1.

Earlier in the semifinals, Asutosh outclashed Chetan Anand 4-0, while Aakash came from behind to beat Rakesh Roshan Pradhan 4-3. Asutosh pocketed the top prize of Rs 15,000, while runner-up Aakash received Rs 7,500. The two losing semifinalists were given Rs 5,000 each. The prize for the highest break of 44 in the six-day tournament went to Nishant Biswal who received Rs 2,500.

Billiards & Snooker Association of Odisha (BSAO) secretary Sameer Ali, tournament director Govind Sharma, 6Pockets Club owner Chetan Anand and organising executive Ritwick Mohanty handed over the prizes in the closing ceremony.
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PHOTO: Champion Asutosh Padhy (2nd from right) and runner-up Aakash Mohapatra (2nd from left) pose with BSAO secretary Sameer Ali (1st from right) and tournament director Govind Sharma.