Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament.
Mixed fortunes for marker Sawant
Borivali’s Mandpeshwar Civic Federation marker Suresh Sawant endured mixed fortunes in the Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Snooker Tournament on Friday.
Battling an advanced stage of cataract, Sawant overcame the odds to beat Shivaji Park Gymkhana marker Jeet Gawde in a 4-3 thriller after leading on two occasions and being forced into the decider before snatching the nail-biting final frame on the black to qualify for the second phase. But the gruelling encounter took its toll as he went down in his next match to Sanjiv Bijlani of Park Club in straight frames in the opening round of the second phase.
“As we all know, in snooker or billiards the eyesight has to be good. I struggle because of the cataract, taking time to play my shots. I could not afford treatment when it was detected early and now it has worsened,” explained Sawant. “Actually, I should not be playing because it’s a strain on the eyes. But I am passionate about the game.”
The others to qualify for the second phase were Ankit Thakkar of the host club and MCF’s Sumit Sardulkar who halted Neville Razmi of Radio Club in another 4-3 thriller, after enjoying a 3-1 lead. The significant winners in the second phase were Nalin Patel of Bombay Gymkhana, Raj Khandwala of CCI and Devesh Gangwani of North Indian Association.
Results:
2nd Phase:
1st Rd: Pratyush Somayajula bt Ramesh Sadarangani 56-21, 35-53, 27-53, 50-27, 47-22, 50-35; Raj Khandwala bt Viraj Joshi 43-25, 37-69, 48-18, 47-21, 45-41; Devesh Gangwani bt Avenish Shah 28-60, 62-34, 75-21, 44-28, 52-21, 44-9; Sanjiv Bijlani bt Suresh Sawant 50-31, 53-26, 57-52, 54-36; Jayesh Salvi bt Aakash Ramteke 50-39, 56-31, 37-44, 29-52, 49-25, 60-26; Vimal Mariwala bt Dhairya Bhandari 46-31, 38-66, 46-27, 54-36, 37-29; Nalin Patel bt Kishore Laungani 16-49, 65-26, 59-22, 69-64, 56-16.
1st Phase (Final qualifying rd): Sumit Sardulkar bt Neville Razmi 57-44, 52-18, 38-56, 46-26, 25-50, 40-62, 60-27; Vivek Nepali bt Dhaval Karia 68-26, 60-19, 60-36, 57-55; Ankit Thakkar bt Kavish Jhaveri 49-18, 47-21, 59-26, 68-29; Aakash Ramteke bt Jigar Shah 56-43, 45-54, 51-64, 54-16, 53-40, 42-61, 87-22; Suresh Sawant bt Jeet Gawde 55-22, 30-45, 53-39, 46-50, 52-25, 25-54, 54-52.