Tanzania snooker ace Arjun Lavingia is expected to bounce back into action next week from a month-long break he took soon after his fourth appearance at the African Snooker Championship in Morocco.
Arjun Lavingia
The tournament that drew competitors from ten African countries ended in Marrakech on June 29 where the country’s lone representative was ousted in the quarter-finals of both the African Championship and Africa Red Six.
The youngster, who will now have to wait until 2014 to try his luck again, told the ‘Daily News on Saturday’ yesterday that he is ready to return to action as he believes he still has much to offer to the sport. “I took a short break after the Morocco event … I felt it was wise to have a rest so as to reclaim my strength,” Arjun said.
He said that the Morocco event was generally good and he tried his best to avoid defeat in his search for silverware. “It was a good tournament, my opponents played real well so did I,” said Arjun. “I had a chance, but could not utilise it.
“I give them credit they really gave me a challenge and something to think about in my endeavour to excel in future competitions.” For the third time Arjun’s campaign ended in the quarter-finals in four outings since 2010 when he participated for the first time in the African Championship in Cairo, Egypt.
The youngster had to play two tough matches at Hotel Eden Andalou – beating Egyptian Alaa Hager 4-3 in a fourth round best of seven match before losing 1-5 to Moroccan Chaoukiin in the best of nine tie. Arjun booked his place in the fourth round after seeing off Saleem Moosa of Mauritius 4-1.
He qualified for the knockout stage after leading his Group A by winning all his four matches, including beating Africa 6 Reds champion Ahmed Galal from Egypt, who finished behind him.
The Africa Red Six winner Galal and runner-up Moroccan Chaouki will represent Africa in the World Sangsom 6 Reds in Bangkok, Thailand, while the African champion Peter Francisco (South Africa) will take part in the World Championship to be held in Latvia later this year.
Francisco later announced his decision to join professional ranks. Countries that took part in the event included Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Mauritius, Mozambique, Algeria, Tunisia and hosts Morocco.
Source Tanzania Daily News