It was Elangos day !!! Right from the onset, he dominated the tournament. His superiority was so resilient that he completed his 4 group matches without conceding a point to his opponents, which is a record in Canada. And Derrick Silveira’s, Dinesh Shetty’s and Shad Ahmed’s inconsistent form did not help either. The maximum of 12 points he conceded in the knock-out stages was to his brother Mohanathas. Mohanathas who represented Sri Lankan at the commonwealth games in wrestling, lost to his younger brother once again, last year he lost to him in the semis.
The competition missed out on 4 good players, Anurag Chanda, Ishan Mohammed, Mohideen Rizwan and
Elango Dominates To Win Singles Title
Balachandran Dandapani, due to prior commitments.
In the group stages, all the 8 seeds qualified into the quarter-finals. Thomas Lawrence who had an excellent tournament, was unfortunate to lose to Mohanathas on game points difference, after finishing his league matches with equal points. He also lost the opportunity to collect maximum points against Derrick in the group match, when after leading 14-0, he let Derrick off the hook and tie the game 14-14.
Another player to excel was Sanjeevan Selladurai, who has been consistently improving and beat veteran Dinesh Shetty in the league match. As expected Sylvester D’Souza and Derek D’Souza also, comfortably moved into the quarters. And, as anticipated, Shad Ahmed, Derrick Silveira and Elango topped their groups to qualify.
The tournament standard though not consistent produced excellent plays, with most players finishing the boards in 2 or 3 chances.
Derrick Silveira was not himself though, but he did produce the only slam of the day. Derrick’s white slam against Marion Fernando, was amazing with very creative openings to get the result.
The semi-final between Shad and Elango produced no fireworks, with Shad completely off form. Elango took advantage of his opponent’s lapses and won easily 23-3. The other semis, had the all the excitement, with Sanjeevan showing Derrick that his form that day was very consistent. Sanjeevan started off well and went ahead 14-0 in 3 boards. Derrick however, started clawing back and leveled the scores in the 6th board. Sanjeevan again took a good lead and at the end of 7 boards was up 20-14. It was the last board and Derrick's break. And yes, Derrick, produced an incredible break in the 8th board. He almost produced his second slam of the day, by missing out on a difficult press shot. He in his second chance finished the board with Sanjeevan's all coins on board and won the game.
The final was almost one sided, with Derrick completely off his normal game. Elango played consistent intelligent game and defeated Derrick 24-5. Ironically, Derrick had beaten Elango in last year’s final at the Bayleaf Restaurant and also in the NSC series in 2014. Shad Ahmed claimed the third place beating Sanjeevan in a thriller. At the end of 7 boards the game was tied at 12-12 and this time it was Sanjeenvan's break, and he had Shad on the ropes. But a careless glide shot towards the end by Sanjeevan let Shad back in the game and finish the board in style and win the game 14-12.
This tournament was played at Konkan Delite Restuarant, Mississauga proud supporter of Carrom Canada.
Sanjeevan, Derrick & Elango (L-R). Missing Shad
Sanjeevan receiving his trophy from Madhukar Kelkar
Elango receiving his trophy from Owner-Chef Loy D'Souza of Konkan Delite Restuarant.
The tournament draw was designed in such a way that no player would meet another twice until the finals. In the quarters, Group A winner – Shad Ahmed had lady luck in his favor in defeating Group C Runner-up Dinesh Shetty 20-15. Shad who was trailing Dinesh until the end of sixth board, as usual made a grand recovery and with some lapses by Dinesh was able to cross the finish line a victor. Group B winner – Derrick Silveira managed to knock out Sylvester D’Souza, who started winning the first board of the match by 8 points. Derrick recovered the early jolt and playing composed carrom qualified for the semis. Group C winner – Sanjeevan Selladurai had a tough time in beating Group A Runner-up, Derek D’Souza 25-11. The game went neck and neck until 6 boards when Sanjeevan leaped forward to victory. In the last quarters, Group D winner – Elango Vellusamy also had a tough opponent to crack in his older brother, Mohanathas Vellusamy. Elango was also aided by lady luck changing the course of the game and pipping Mohanathas 23-12.
