Former Asian and National champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways failed to qualify for the Senior National Snooker Championship after losing 2-3 to Tamil Nadu's Nigel Lazar in Chennai on Thursday.
Lazar, making a comeback to the National Championship after a gap of 14 years, entered the main draw after a 47-56, 62-51, 14-70, 74-42, 64-49 victory.
Shandilya said, "I guess, I don't deserve to qualify. I don't know what exactly has gone wrong, but I can tell you there is no hand-eye-mind co-ordination.
"I started well with a 24 break, but missed a sitter red and he replied strongly. Then the match went one way and the other. I had my chances in every frame, but did not capitalize and I eventually lost," he said.
Results:
Final qualifying round: Nigel Lazar (TN) bt Ashok Shandilya (Rlys), 3-2 (47-56, 62-51, 14-70, 74-42, 64-49; Jasim Tawin (Kar) bt Mahesh Jagdule (Mah), 3-1 (17-69, 70-01, 59-41, 55-17); Faisal Khan (Rlys) bt Varun Madan (Del) 3-2 (50-64, 63-01, 79-22, 60-51); Rajkumar (Kar) bt Siddarth Parekh (Rlys) 3-2 (78-32, 18-61, 88-83, 38-51, 67-47); Amit Bhushan (Kar) bt Monu Chaudary (Del) 3-2 (26-79, 73-49, 56-27, 10-68, 84-60).
