city anchor: Right on cue: Sagar wins debut tournament, brush with legend

As a 14-year old, Bhavesh Sagar started playing cricket seriously. Only a month and half into it, he quit, settling instead for playing snooker on his computer. Eventually, the computer game became his passion. Four years on, Bhavesh played his first ever snooker tournament in real life, winning it undefeated. He went from being unseeded to becoming Delhi's no.1 in the junior state championship and as a reward will now attend a fortnight-long camp under Yasin Merchant.

After he won the junior Delhi title, the Delhi Snooker and Billiards Association (DSBA) announced that both Sagar and Azim Khan will visit Yasin Merchant in a week's time. With the cue sport nationals just two months away, the association with the snooker legend could not have come at a better time for Sagar, to help his preparations for the tournament in Pune.

"Sagar is a talented cueist. The way he has played throughout the tournament has been commendable. Being his first tournament, handling nerves is key and I think he has shown immense potential. We have decided that Bhavesh Sagar and Azim Khan will be sent to the Yasin Merchant Academy for exposure," affirmed Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) vice-president Ravi Tandon.

That Sagar is talented is no doubt. Though he defeated Azim Khan 3-1 (40-28, 87-46, 9-47, 51-19) in the final match of the round robin format, he had hardly experienced any hiccups en route to the final. Speaking to Sportline, Sagar modestly credits his off-field dedication and those strenuous hours that he put in during practice at Baba billiards academy under the able guidance of his coach Ayush Bansal for the win.

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