“I’m in great form now after finishing first at the selections event in Goa this week where I managed to topple both Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi with an identical margin of 4-0. That put me ahead of Advani at the end of the tournament. I hope and will try to sustain the same form,” says the 27-year-old Delhi lad. “I didn’t have a good last year but after the recent success, I ‘m in a very positive frame of mind,” said the man who had finished second to Pankaj Advani at the nationals held in Indore last November.

Apart from playing with a positive attitude, it was a bit of regular yoga that did the trick for him, reveals Manan. “Just one month before the selections event in Goa is when I started doing it and that has helped me a lot,” says Manan, who will open his campaign against Faizal Khan in the knockout event tomorrow.

Manan had turned professional in 2002 and even played a season at Pro Circuit in England in 2002-03. He had finished 102 among 128 players and thus failed to qualify for the next circuit as only top 90 were eligible then. “The snooker is of very high quality there. It was a great learning experience,” said Manan.

The organisers have announced that the first to reach the magic break of 147 will be awarded a prize money of Rs 1,47,000. “It’s a difficult task to get a break of 147 in a knock-out event as a player is under lot of pressure and is usually very cautious,” believes ace cueist Pankaj Advani.