Kalpesh Lavingia and former captain Firoz Yusufali emerged Cargostars May Snooker Mug tournament Division A and B champions respectively at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club (DGC) over the weekend.
The week-long tournament, sponsored by Cargo Stars Ltd of Dar es Salaam, brought together about 30 DGC members with the aim to harmonise their friendship and promote the game.
Top player Lavingia secured his first title this year after being silent for several months when he clinched the Division A title after beating Irfan Alibhai 2-0 frames in the final.
Alibhai, who did a good job to eliminate top African player Arjun Lavingia in the semi-final, could not emulate his fine form in the final. He was given 21 points at each frame, but he let champion Lavingia control the game.
Alibhai faced a hard time in the opening frame leading 59-57 before Lavingia came from behind to take it by 70-59 after he slotted in last pink and black balls. In the second frame in the best of three final, Lavingia came stronger and let his opponent struggle all the way.
The champion was leading with 67-22 as Alibhai added only a point before he gave up to hand his opponent with brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7) balls still on play.
Alibhai, who won the tournament’s highest break award with 33 points, said his opponent played really well. “He is a very good player, I lost to a good player. I did not play well today,” he said.
In Division B, Yusufali won the final with a 2-0 victory over Rupesh Soni. Yusufali appealed to the players to turn up to the presentation ceremony to support the snooker executive committee and sponsors who worked very hard to make the tournament a success. “As participants we can only appreciate it by coming in the presentation ceremony,” he said.
Sponsor Cargo Stars Ltd’s Dioniz Malinzi, who is also the club’s chairman, thanked the snooker section for giving his company the honour to sponsor the event and players.
Captain Nikhil Sangani thanked the company for their support that made the event a success and all players who participated.