It was sweet revenge for Indore's Ashwini Puranik who beat former national champion Judy by three frames to one in the best-of-five-frames match. It was a moment Ashwini had always waited for.

``For the number of times I have met Judy, it has been a semi-final encounter and I have lost. Since I started playing snooker, three years ago, I have always met Judy in the semis and lost to her.''

``But today was a different story,'' revealed the third-seed Ashwini.

Judy, who got past Neeta Sanghvi in a gripping four frame tie in the quarter-final earlier in the day, looked out of sorts as Ashwini called the shots.

``I played positively, right from the start. One has to go for the shots if one has to win. And this is something I have learned from Judy herself. She is a fantastic player, always inthe right frame of mind,'' said a gleaming Ashwini.

The final scores read 58-35, 51-29, 58-24 in favour of Ashwini who set up a clash for the Rs 7,000 winner's cheque with 15-year-old Anuja Thakur.

Anuja, who just completed her matriculation exams, was seeded fourth in a field of 19 players at the Rs 20,000 tournament, the biggest prize-money ladies snooker event to be held in the country.

Anuja beat elder sister Meenal Bairagi by three frames to one in the other semi-final encounter. It was a major let down for Meenal who created the biggest upset earlier in the day when she beat top seed Heena Khandelwal 3-1.

India's No 4 in billiards, Meenal overcame stiff challenge from her younger sibling to take the first frame 70-44. But from thereon, Anuja came back strongly to win the next three frames with comfortable ease.

And how does she feel beating her sister?

``She (Meenal) is my sister. But on the table, she is just another opponent,'' said Anuja.

Earlier in the qauter-finals the dimunitiveMeenal manged her best finish to date in a snooker tournament by entering the semi-finals.

``I knew I could do it,'' said the diminutive Meenal, after her victory over Heena. It was a moment the former would long cherish as she had lost to Heena by a similar score in the quarter-finals of the '95 Nationals at Indore. Meenal had, in fact, given an indication of things to come after beating Heena in a friendly single-frame tournament yesterday.

Meenal took an early lead after winning the first two-frames 48-21, 53-30. But the national champion gave a glimpse of her mettle, winning the third with comfortable ease. Said Meenal: ``I understood that I had to win the fourth. If she (Heena) had levelled scores, it would have been a hard task to get past her in the decider.'' Meenal took the fourth frame 54-23.

Heena, however, seemed to have taken the loss in her stride. ``Defeats are part of life. I did not play well and there are no excuses for that,'' said the top-seed. ``You need to be in the right frame ofmind and certainly, today was not my day,'' she accepted.

Anuja Thakur entered the semis with 56-17, 73-17, 53-35 win over Ritu Shrivatsava in the quarter-final tie.

Sangeeta Hemchand (Mah) gave Ashwini Puranik (MP) a run for her money before losing to the third seed in a taut five frame encounter. The match was stretched to the decider after Sangeeta took the fourth frame to level scores. But Ashwini won the fifth frame 59-26 to enter the semi-final.

In the last quarter-final encounter, second seed Judy Walia of Karnataka got past Maharashtra's Neeta Sanghvi in a gripping encounter. Losing the first frame, Neeta came back strongly to lead the second frame 46-39. She could have sealed the frame there but Judy potted a black to level scores at 46-all. Neeta potted the black again in the the tie-breaker to win the frame.

But Judy, a former national champion, jumped back into the game, winning the next two frames 52-20, 60-37 and now faces Ashwini in the semis.

RESULTS

SEMI-FINALS:4-Anuja Thakur (Mah) bt Meenal Bairagi (Mah) 70-44, 23-66, 23-50, 31-51; 3-Ashwini Puranik (MP) bt 2-Judy Walia (Kar) 58-35, 51-29, 58-24.

Quarter-finals: 1-Heena Khandelwal (Mah) lost to Meenal Bairagi (Mah) 48-21, 63-30, 17-60, 54-23; Ritu Shrivatasava (MP) lost to 4-Anuja Thakur (Mah) 17-56, 17-73, 35-53; 3-Ashwini Puranik (MP) bt Sangeeta Hemchand (Mah) 27-55, 53-40, 44-36, 24-50, 59-26; Neeta Sanghvi lost to 2- Judy Walia (Kar) 47-54, 53-46, 20-52, 37-60.