BSAM Presents OTTERS CLUB Mumbai Snooker League 2017
ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ sail into last 16; mixed fortunes for CCI teams
16-Aug-2017
Kreish Gurbaxani
Mumbai: ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ (Elphinstone Cricket Club) in grand fashion advanced to the quarter-final round of the Otters Club-Mumbai Snooker League (MSL) – 2017, conducted by the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM). Elfies Hornets defeated NSCI ‘Youngsters by a comfortable 3-0 margin in a round of 16 match played at the Otters Club, Bandra.
ECC’s captain and seasoned cueist Farhad Tengra and Pramod Pol (+23 handicap) provided their team with a winning start as they overcame the NSCI duo of Sagar Desai and Abhishek Bajaj (+29) by 77-68 points. Pol played a key role as he produced a break of 38 which helped to win the frame and he was later named winner of the ‘Player of the Match’ award. Later, Rushab Gohil (+55) sidelined Abhishek Bajaj (+30) winning by a distance at 100-62 points in the second frame before Vilas Upsham managed to snatch a tight 116-109 win over Jay Shroff to close out the match in favour of Elfies Hornets.
Meanwhile, Cricket Club of India teams had mixed fortunes in the pre-quarter-final round of matches.
Former champions CCI ‘Snooker Kings’ charged into the quarter-finals with a fluent 3-0 win against the formidable CG ‘Gladiators’ (Chembur Gymkhana).
On the adjacent table, CCI ‘Young Guns’ went down fighting to fancied KG ‘Dirty Half Dozen’ (Khar Gymkhana) by 1-3 frame scores in the most exciting match which witnessed quite a number of decent breaks. Raj Khandwala (+40) of CCI compiled runs of 42 and 32 in winning the first frame against Ishpreet Chadha (+5) by 113-16 points to give CCI the lead, But, then Khar Ggymkhana’s celebrated cueist, Yasin Merchant (scratch), a former two-time Asian snooker champion had two sizeable break of 44 and 41 as he tamed Pranav Todi (+50) 93-55 to level the frame scores at 1-all. Later, KG’s doubles pair of Sparsh Pherwani and Kreish Gurbaxani (+23) combined nicely with the latter rolling a break of 40 as they went on to defeat the CCI doubles combo of Krish and Eashan Bajaj (+36) 78-48. Nikhil Saigal (+25) sealed things up for Khar Gymkhana when he pulled off a 99-87 win against Raj Khandwala in the fourth frame. Kreish was declared as the ‘Player of the Match’.
Results (round of 16): CCI ‘Snooker Kings’ beat CG ‘Gladiators’ 3-0 (Mukund Bharadia (+10) bt Loukic Pathare (+35) 91-48; Raj Rana (+55) bt Ashok shandilya (+10) 95-69; Nishant Dossa/Narendra Hemdev (+21) bt Vimal /Vishal Madan (+23) 86-40).Player of the Match: Mukund Bharadia (CCI ‘Snooker Kings’).
KG ‘Dirty Half Dozen’ beat CCI ‘Young Guns’ 3-1 (Ishpreet Chadha (+5) lost to Raj Khandwala (+40) 16-113(42-32); Yasin Merchant (Scr) bt Pranav Todi (+50) 93(44,41)-55; Sparsh Pherwani/Kreish Gurbaxani (+23) bt Krish /Eashan Bajaj (+36) 78(40)-48; Nikhil Saigal (+25) bt Raj Khandwala (+40) 99-87). Player of the Match:Kreish Gurbaxani (KG ‘Dirty half Dozen’).
ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ beat NSCI ‘Youngsters’ 3-0 (Farhad Tengra/Pramod Pol (+23) bt Sagar Desai/Abhishek Bajaj (+29) 77-68; Rushabh Gohil (+55) bt Abhishek Bajaj (+30) 100-62; Vilas Upsham (+40) bt Jai Shroff (+50) 116-109). Player of the Match:Pramod Pol (ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’).