9-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2017
Aditya strikes good form to smoothly cruise ahead
11-Mar-2017
Aditya Agrawal
Mumbai: Aditya Agrawal (+14 handicap) struck good form and convincing defeated Huzefa Cheni (+32 handicap) in three quick frames 3-0 in a third round match of the Matunga Gymkhana 9-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2017, which is sponsored and hosted by Matunga Gymkhana and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall.
Playing with a handicap of +14 Aditya instantly got into a rhythm and compiled two breaks of 24 and 20 to win the first frame. Aditya continued to call the shots and after pocketing the second to take a 2-0 lead he signed off with a neat run of 30 in the third to wrap up the match coasting to a 79-45, 63-47, 66-65 win.
Meanwhile, former two-time Asian snooker champion, Yasin Merchant (+3 handicap) did not have a easy outing but with his vast experience managed to carve out a 3-2 win against Sanjeev Bijlani (+29 handicap) in another third round match. Yasin trailing 1-2 showed his class and with some clever play went on to win the next two frame to clinch a 62-57, 27-62, 58-62, 71-57 and 65-53 victory and move to the fourth round.
However, current Junior National snooker champion Ahutosh Padhy made an early exit as he suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Suraj Rathi also in a round three encounter. Rathi (+21 handicap) blanked Asutosh (+7 handicap by a comfortable 68(20)-49, 50(23)-40, 66-32 scoreline.
Results – (round 3): Yasin Merchant (+3) bt Sanjeev Bijlani (+29) 3-2 (62-57, 27-62, 58-62, 71-57, 65-53); Rohan Sakalkar (+18) bt Sumeet Ahuja (+32) 3-2 (34-72, 75-74, 77-56, 57-63, 76-70); Anish Khaveri (+32) bt Kunal Udhwani (+35) 3-1 (72-58, 74-57, 52-64, 82-53); Bhavesh Keshva (+32) bt Nimish Kulkarni (+18) 3-2 (70-57(23), 56-78, 54-78, 55-21, 70-32); Abhimanyu Gandhi (+10) bt Anees Jumani (+24) 3-1 (60-64, 60(21)-30, 67(23,26)-40, 71(35)-38); Arun Agrawal (+18) bt Vimal Mariwala (+29) 3-2 (30-63, 76-60, 75(32)-53, 72-51, 61(22)-56); Avinash Gaikwad (+35) bt Sagar Patne (+35) 3-2 (74-56, 71-78, 56-67, 65-54, 77-53); Aditya Agrawal (+14) bt Huzefa Cheni (+32) 3-0 (79(24,20)-45, 63-47, 66(30)-65); Bhushan Shahade (+32) bt Rahul Parekh (+35) 3-2 (76-63, 46-72, 66-61, 57-81, 79-53); Anurag Bagri (+21) bt Poras Shah (+24) 3-1 (38-60, 78-41, 74-43, 62-60); Tushar Pankhania (+32) bt Arantxa Sanchis (+21) 3-1 (84-22, 88-37, 66-69, 75-62); Suraj Rathi (+21) bt Asutosh Padhy (+7) 3-0 (68(20)-49, 50(23)-40, 66-32).