Indian Open: Rampaging Ding pots snooker title
New Delhi: Ding Junhui, the prodigiously talented 26-year old Chinese and World No.4, broke many a home heart with a clinical 5-0 demolition of Aditya Mehta in the final of the 300,000 pounds (approx $485,000)
Despite the drubbing Mehta, winner of the Asian Championship and gold medalist at the World Games, can take heart from the fact that he created snooker history by becoming the first Indian to play in professional ranking tournament final, an achievement that could be a forerunner to many more.
"I can't even imagine that level of snooker and I learnt another lesson. We practice at the same academy in Sheffield and I hope to learn from him," said Mehta. "I don't see anyone playing better than him. His cue-ball control, break building, tactics were simply outstanding. He was in a league of his own."
On reaching the final, Mehta said: "It is the greatest milestone I have achieved so far in my career. A few years ago, I couldn't have imagined this, but if your heart is in it, nothing is impossible."
Junhui, author of many snooker achievements, including being only the third teenager after Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins to win a professional ranking tournament when he was just 18, was simply a class apart in the final with Mehta spending more time off the table, for such was the dominance of the Chinese who was also the youngest ever at 15 to win the IBSF World championship.
Junhui, with his measured style of play and precision potting, threaded some brilliant breaks that demonstrated his sublime touch.
Some of his shots were just unbelievable and it was obvious that he had peaked after coming through some difficult matches earlier on when he beat the likes of Higgins and World No.1 Neil Robertson.
With Junhui in such an awesome form, Mehta, playing the final less than two hours after a grueling 4-3 win against Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals, was virtually kept out of the match and he managed just two points in four frames after scoring 36 in the first.
"Yes, I was a bit tired after playing a tough semifinal against Maguire and all those difficult matches earlier on also drained me. Perhaps, I need to work on my fitness," he said.
Mehta's attempts to keep his opponent at bay with some safety play were scoffed at by Junhui who took a while to warm up before unleashing the big breaks and even a 20-minute break after the fourth frame did not disturb Junhui's focus or rhythm as he finished the match with a century, his sixth of the tournament.
Earlier, in the semi-finals, Mehta squeezed out a 4-3 win over World No.5 Maguire who all but repeated his performance in the recent Ruhr Open when he came back from 1-3 to beat the Mumbai star.
This time around, Mehta left nothing to chance, and also the balls rolled in his favour on more than one occasion, especially in the seventh frame when Maguire played safe on the yellow but it rolled and stopped in the mouth of the bottom right pocket and Mehta made the best of the offering.
He potted six colours to black in different visits to take the match.
Mehta was off to a flier as he took the opening three frames on breaks of 81 in the second and well-crafted 132 clearance in the third.
Down 0-3, the 32-year old Maguire, winner of five ranking tournaments, staged a great fightback. Runs of 68 and 61 in the fourth and sixth frames saw the Scot level at 3-3 before he sold the crucial yellow in the decider.
In contrast, the first semi-final was decidedly one-sided as Junhui brushed aside England's Robbie Williams by 4-1 margin with breaks of 68, 59, 142 and 64 in the four frames that he won.
Williams, 26, and ranked 73, barely had a say in the proceedings though he managed to pocket the fourth frame with a run of 67, it did not stop his ruthless execution by Junhui.
The results (high breaks in brackets):
Final: Ding Junhui (CHN) bt Aditya Mehta (IND) 5-0: 76 (52)-36, 87 (81)-0, 107 (107)-0, 93 (93)-1, 116 (100)-1.
Semi-finals: Mehta bt Stephen Maguire (SCO) 4-3: 84-0, 137 (81)-0, 132 (132cl)-0, 0-72 (68), 10-53, 6-67 (61), 67-45; Junhui bt Robbie Williams (ENG) 4-1: 111 (68)-0; 90 (59)-11; 146 (142)-0, 0-87 (67), 76 (64)-28.