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Rohan Jambusaria

Mumbai, May 5: Bolstered by skipper Rohan Jambusaria’s fantastic century break of 109, MCF ‘Tough Men’ for the fourth consecutive year reached the semi-final round. The MCF (Mandpeshwar Civic Federation), Borivali team (handicap 15) defeated home favourites CCI ‘Nicholson’s Boys’ (handicap 125) 600-319 in a quarter-final match of the CCI Kekoo Nicholson BSAM Billiards League 2018 and played at the CCI Wilson Jones Billiards Room.

This was Jambusaria’s first hundred break this season as he twice missed the mark, making 99 and 97 in the league stage. His effort is short of the highest break of 167 compiled by Ashok Shandilya of CG ‘Dream Team’ in the league phase.

MCF ‘Tough Men’ were runners-up in 2015 and 2016 and had lost in the semi-finals last year.

The Borivali side, who had conceded a 110 points head start to Nicholson Boys, changed their order of play and it paid off. Mehul Sutaria (+55) was promoted to play the opening frame and he justified his captain’s decision by pulling off a 200-162 points win against CCI’s Kanishk Jhanjaria (+30) in the race to 200 frame. The 38 points difference helped Tough Men reduce the CCI team’s advantage to 72 points at the end of the first frame.

In the second frame, Jambusaria (-60) came out all guns blazing against Pranav Todi (+65) and on his second visit to the table he got into cracking form as he neatly constructed the big effort. He exhibited excellent control as he played the in-offs and cannons with precise accuracy, but when he looked set to extend the break he got into a bad position and was forced to pocket his opponents handball. He then attempted a difficult red, which he missed and that terminated his fine run. But, by then he had already established a sizeable lead before finishing off the frame 200-32. Jambusari’s win by a huge 168 points difference gave Tough Men a 96 points advantage.

Seasoned cueist Chandu Kansodaria was left to score just 104 as compared to Raj Khandwala 200 points in the third frame. The CCI player tried his best but could not prevent the experienced Kansodaria from completing the formalities and secure the Borivali side’s passage to another semi-final.

Meanwhile, CCI ‘Prezmen’ stayed on course to go the distance. Prezmen (handicap 120) got the better of PG ‘Centric’ (handicap 170) 600-409 to book their place in the last four round. Once again Hasan Badami (scratch) played the lead role when he defeated Zubin Vajifdar (+55) 200-101 to cancel out Centrics 50 points advantage and provide his side a 49 points advantage. Later, CCI’s Phiroze Patel (+85) pulled off a close win against youngster Shahyan Razmi (+65) by a mere seven points, 200-193, to increase their advantage to 56 points. CCI captain Nishant Dossa (+35) easily scored the required 144 points against the 200 points required by Neville Razmi, who ended up scoring only 115 points.

In the semi-finals, Prezmen will meet PCL ‘Beach Boys’ (140) who beat defending champions Catholic ‘Decapitare’ (100) 600-493. In the other last four match, MCF ‘Tough Men’ will clash with strong contenders ECC ‘Elfies Thunderbolts’ (90) who recorded an authoritative win over JVPG ‘Jugglers’ (115) by 600-332 scoreline.

Results – quarter-finals: CCI ‘Prezmen’ (handicap 120) beat PG ‘Centrics’ (handicap 170) 600-409 (Hasan Badami (SCR) bt Zubin Vajifdar (+55) 200-101, Phiroze Patel (+85) bt Shahyan Razmi (+65) 200-193, Nishant Dossa (+35) bt Neville Razmi (+50) 144-115).

MCF ‘Tough Men’ (15) beat CCI ‘Nicholson’s Boys’ (125) 600-319 (Mehul Sutaria (+55) bt Kanishk Jhanjaria (+30) 200-162, Rohan Jambusaria (-60) bt Pranav Todi (+65) 200(109)-32, Chandu Kansodaria (+20) bt Raj Khandwala (+30) 104-125).

PCL ‘Beach Boys’ (140) beat Catholic ‘Decapitare’ (100) 600-493 (Amit Sapru (+25) bt Melwyn Mascarenhas (+20) 200-123, Lalit Jham (+65) lost Carl Serrao (+20) 167-200, Sanjiv Bijlani (+50) bt Clyde Affonso (+60) 116-170).

ECC ‘Elfies Thunderbolts’ (90) beat JVPG ‘Jugglers’ (115) 600-332 (Rayaan Razmi (+40) bt Asutosh Padhy (-20) 200-189, Anurag Bagri (+40) bt Rahil Patel (+65) 200(59,43)-100, Farhad Tengra (+10) bt Sanjiv Shah (+70) 114-43).