After 12 rounds of competition, United Stars will head into the Christmas break on top of the National Pool League’s (NPL) 10-ball competition standings. This after they once again leapfrogged Headquarters atop the table in what had essentially been a two-horse race.
With the exception of the first two rounds when Curepe-based, The Specialists led the league, both Debe’s United Stars from and Penal’s Headquarters have each led the league on five different occasions.
In Fyzabad on Wednesday, the “Stars” continued their push for yet another title against the Shotters in a rescheduled match. Shotters were desperate to register their first match win but that would not happen as Nazim Mohammed beat Ashram “Maggie” Rampersad 4-1 in the first game, Aaron Raghoonanan then cruised by Davis “Roddy” Mathura 5-1 and the doubles pair of Shane Rampersad and Wayne Rattansingh took care of Dillon Deo and Ryan Pardasie 4-1 to seal the match.
Lyndon Ramkissoon, who is now undefeated in the league, won 5-2 against Felix “Dan” Reyes, with Reyes just needing to win three frames and the only loss for the league leaders came in the final game when Dilip “Pepper” Deo beat Ravi Goorah 4-2 in a battle of the captains as United Stars won the match 4-1.
In Curepe, Rawle “Quarterback” Mahadeo beat Carlos Poyer 3-2 to give the visiting Liquidatorz the lead. But that lead was shortlived as Menon Hererra tied things up for the hosts with a 5-3 win over Ravi Samlal. Adrian Mangaroo and Shaheed “Fly” Kondiah then beat Ronald Samaroo and Joshua Mitchell 4-1 in the doubles to put the hosts ahead and P&P skipper Ravy Joseph defeated Micah Singh in the fourth game 4-2 to give his team a winning 3-1 lead.
In the final game of the night, Leo Chin Soong was a 3-3 winner over Anil Ramadhar with Ramadhar needing to win four frames. The 3-2 win for Pit & Pub solidified their fourth position on the standings going into the break. League action resumes on January 8.
