In what was one of the most nerve-wracking and perhaps heartbreaking snooker matches in recent memory, Stephen Lee edged out Sourav Kothari 5-4 in dramatic fashion to book a showdown against Indian National Champion Kamal Chawla in the semi-finals of the CCI Snooker Classic 2023.
Firing away to a 4-0 lead with breaks of 57 & 70, Lee seemed on course to whitewashing the former World Billiards Champion, before a reinvigorated Sourav smashed a superb 130* total clearance in the fifth frame. What could be a wrap up of the tale in the 6th game on the pink ball, gave another lifeline to fighting Sourav to make it 4-2 as Lee missed a relatively dicey pink in the corner pocket.
The 7th frame had Sourav show his class with a 133* total clearance, as Lee watched with disbelief and admiration at his opponent’s resurgence. The eighth frame saw Sourav craft a crucial 45 break to level the proceedings.
Heading into the deciding frame, Lee had not scored a single point in the previous two frames. With all the momentum and the crowd inside (and outside) the Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room behind him, Sourav seemed a speck away from ousting the former Masters finalist and scripting a comeback for the ages. On a visit of 9, Sourav narrowly missed a tough blue in the center pocket, leaving Lee with just a single red on which was converted into a sublime 119 clearance to essentially rob Kothari and leave dozens of hearts broken. With the final black entering the pocket, the crowd erupted for Lee, but Lee’s first order of business was congratulating Sourav on a superb session of snooker.
Following the match, we caught up with Lee to provide some insights into the match. Lee lauded Sourav for his grit, stating that Sourav was the better player throughout the match and he felt like he “robbed him of the victory… he deserved it.” He was also relieved to finally get his first century of the tournament, and in the most outstanding of circumstances.
The Sportal has been covering non-stop snooker over the past 25 days, and today’s match stands out as the highest-quality one so far. It’ll be tough to top this…
Such scintillating games are up in the final 2 days of the CCI Snooker Classic 2023, stay tuned and #cueincci
Cricket club of India
The Billiards & Snooker Association of Maharashtra
