Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament.
Haria halts Saigal in thriller
Dhwaj Haria of Ahmedabad halted Nikhil Saigal of Khar Gymkhana in a 4-3 thriller, as the elite round of 32 got underway, in the Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Snooker Tournament on Tuesday.
2014 state junior billiards champion Saigal frittered away a 3-1 cushion as Haria rallied with a late burst to romp to a 48-33, 27-41, 24-32, 10-44, 41-13, 50-8, 50-13 in a gripping best-of-seven contest. Haria changed his fortunes by winning three frames on the trot that included a vital break of 50 in the crucial sixth frame.
Another Gujarat cueist Abhimanyu Gandhi kicked off his campaign with a 4-2 win over Devesh Gangwani of North Indian Association, after leading 2-0. The others to enter the pre-quarter-finals were Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Khar Gymkhana, Hasan Badami of Islam Gymkhana and 12-time state champion Arun Agrawal of Matunga Gymkhana.
In an exciting final qualifying round tie in the second phase, Pawan Kohli of Khar Gymkhana registered his second straight 4-3 win after edging past Vishal Gehani of Park Club who squandered a 3-1 advantage. Kohli’s effort included a black ball finish in the fifth frame that kept his hopes alive and another black ball win in a pulsating decider.
The others to enter the elite round were Darshan Shah of Matunga Gymkhana and Sumit Sardulkar of Mandpeshwar Civic Federation, Borivali.
Results: Elite:
1st Rd: Ishpreet Chadha bt V. Subramanian 32-9, 55-17, 41-29, 42-39; Arun Agrawal bt Mahesh Jagdale 47-7, 40-0, 55-36, 15-57, 46-7; Dhwaj Haria bt Nikhil Saigal 48-33, 27-41, 24-32, 10-44, 41-13, 50-8, 50-13; Hasan Badami bt Sunil Jain 24-44, 48-36, 50-14, 45-19, 1-40, 49-8; Abhimanyu Gandhi bt Devesh Gangwani 58-16, 46-24, 14-42, 4-42, 32-23, 48-39.
2nd Phase: Final qualifying rd: V. Subramanian bt Kreishh Gurbaxani 21-46, 58-26, 60-33, 9-47, 51-17, 59-30; Darshan Shah bt Harmehr Mago 47-23, 50-20, 57-42, 36-63, 47-17; Devesh Gangwani bt Vimal Mariwala 42-51, 45-25, 47-8, 68-28, 21-46, 44-42; Pawan Kohli bt Vishal Gehlani 10-43, 15-54, 44-17, 26-39, 36-35, 49-35, 44-37; Sumit Sardulkar bt Vishal Madan 56-16, 50-10, 57-20, 57-30.