“Otters BSAM Snooker League 2018 styled by Z3”
Upsham fine efforts shapes ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ win
24-Jul-2018
Vilas Upsham
Mumbai: Vilas Upsham rose to the challenge and came out successful by winning both his frames, including the match deciding fifth frame to help ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ overcome GST ‘GCH Snooker Team’ 3-2 in a round of 32 match of the Z3 Zodiac Clothing & Otters Club sponsored Otters-BSAM Mumbai Snooker League 2018 at Otters Club, Billiards Room. The Elphinstone Cricket Club cueists Upsham and Aditya Agrawal, both made significant contributions as last year’s runners-up Elfies Hornets recovered from the brink of defeat to push for victory and progress to the last 16 round.
Elfies Hornets had a bad start as they lost the opening two frames. First their doubles combo of captain Farhad Tengra and Aditya Agrawal (+14 handicap) lost to the Garware Club House pair of Gaurav Shah and Juzer Master (+30) 20-66 in the 9-red doubles first frame. Later, Pramod Pol (+45) met with the same fate going down fighting to Bhavesh Jain (+45) 97-111 in a 15-red singles second frame.
But, the exuberant Upsham (+35), showed great confidence and arrested ECC’s slide as he turned things around with a comfortable win against Sharad Sharma (+50) by 96-58 points in the 15-red singles third frame. Later, Agrawal (+20) kept ECC in the fight and with a tidy break of 34 went on to defeat Gaurav Shah (+55) 111-89 to level the match scores at 2-all. In the fifth and deciding frame, Upsham once again showed good temperament and outclassed Juzer Master (+45) 94-49 to clinch Elfies Hornets victory.
JVPG 'Snooker Legends' captain Sanjiv Shah also produced creditable performances and won both the frames he played to secure a tight 3-2 win for his team against MIG 'Saints' in another round of 32 encounter.
Meanwhile, strong contenders MHCL ‘Matka Kings’ bowed out losing 2-3 to ARC ‘Cheetahs’ in a nail-biting and absorbing contest.
Results (pre-quarter-finals): ARC 'Cheetahs' beat MHCL 'Matka Kings' 3-2 (Tarun Kalra/Akshay Vasani (+33) bt Manav Panchal/Krushank (+24) 70-35, Karan Anand (+25) lost Akshat Kejriwal (+40) 69-98, Om Sawant (+45) lost Kunal Gandhi (+50) 78-87, Karan Anand (+25) bt Manav Panchal (+20) 67-66, Om Sawant (+45) bt Akshat Kejriwal (+40) 113-96).
ECC 'Elfies Hornets' beat GST 'GCH Snooker Team' 3-2 (Farhad Tengra/Aditya Agrawal (+14) lost Gaurav Shah/Juzer Master (+30) 20-66, Pramod Pol (+45) lost Bhavesh Jain (+45) 97-111, Vilas Upsham (+35) bt Sharad Sharma (+50) 96-58, Aditya Agrawal (+20) bt Gaurav Shah (+55) 111(34)-89, Vilas Upsam (+35) bt Juzer Master (+45) 94-49).
JVPG 'Snooker Legends' beat MIG 'Saints' 3-2 (Rahil Patel (+40) bt Soham Sawant (+45) 113-52, Anup Kedia/Divesh Gangwani (+26) lost Akshay Borkar/Dhananjay Padmanathan (+35) 57-80, Sanjiv Shah (+40) bt Abhay Kadne (+50) 126-87, Rahil Patel (+40) lost Soham Sawant (+45) 86-91, Sanjiv Shah (+40) bt Akshay Borkar (+50) 109-64).