BSAM PRESENTS THE CHEMBUR GYMKHANA BILLIARDS LEAGUE 2017
Melwyn, Carl shape Catholic Gym’s win
02-Jul-2017
Devendra Joshi
Mumbai: The fine performances from Melwyn Mascarenhas and Carl Serrao carried Catholic ‘Decapitare’ (Catholic Gymkhana) to a comfortable 579-523 win against NSCI ‘Inoff Is Inoff’ (NSCI Club) in a pre-quarter-final match of the BSAM-The Chembur Gymkhana Billiards League 2017, played at The Chembur Gymkhana billiards hall, late on Saturday evening.
Catholic Gym, who played with a team handicap of +130 as compared to NSCI’s +160 handicap, were given a perfect start by Melwyn (+40) who hit good form to outclass NSCI’s Siddesh Khaitan (+90) in the first frame. Melwyn warmed up nicely with a couple of small runs and as the frame progressed he settled down and got into a rhythm. He hit the balls with better fluidity and consistency and after compiling a break of 36 he followed it up with a neat run of 74 to race away towards victory by a massive margin of 200-19 points to put Catholic Gym in an advantageous position.
Later, NSCI’s veteran cueist, Subhash Agrawal (scratch handicap), a former National billiards champion and Dronacharya award winner, defeated Derek Sippy (+50) by 200-108 points in the second frame and give his team a fighting chance.
However in the third frame, Catholic Gym’s Carl Serrao (+40) who was left to score just 141 points as against the 200 required by his opponent Nitin Banka (+70), easily achieved the target to seal the win for his team and take them to the quarter-finals.
In another round of 16 match played on an adjacent table, MG ‘Partysipants’ (Matunga Gymkhana playing with a team handicap of +35 points defeated KG ‘Challengers’ (Khar Gymkhana) who started with a c+145 points handicap by a solid margin of 544-440 points. Matunga Gym’s Devendra Joshi (-80) defeated Deepak Kubchandani (+40) 200-81 in the first frame before Ankit Thakkar (+45) increased the lead when he beat Nikhil Saigal (+50) 200-118. In the third frame, Shailesh Rao (+70) managed to score the winning target getting the better of Harmehr Mago (+55) 109-96.
Results (pre-quarter-finals):
Catholic ‘Decapitare’ (+130) beat NSCI ‘Inoff Is Inoff’ (+160) -- 579-523 (Melwyn Mascarenhas (+40) bt Siddesh Khaitan (+90) 200(36,74)-19; Derek Sippy (+50) lost to Subash Agrawal (Scr) 108-200; Carl Serrao (+40) bt Nitin Banka (+70) 141-144).
MG ‘Partysipants’ (+35) beat KG ‘Challengers’ (+145) -- 544-440 (Devendra Joshi (-80) bt Deepak Kubchandani (+40) 200(48)-81; Ankit Thakkar (+45) bt Nikhil Saigal (+50) 200(43)-118(41); Shailesh Rao (+70) bt Harmehr Mago (+55) 109-96).