GREATWHITE PRESENTS CCI KEKOO NICHOLSON BSAM BILLIARDS LEAGUE 2023
Steady Gehani steers Park Club into semis
25-May-2023
Vishal Gehani
Mumbai, 25: Park Club’s Vishal Gehani (-10 handicap) was cool and composed and produced a steady match-winning effort to defeat Khar Gymkhana ‘A’ team’s Deepak Khubchandani (+30) by a comfortable 200-98 point margin in the crucial third match. Gehani’s victory helped Park Club pull off a stunning 532-448 victory against the fancied Khar Gymkhana in a quarter-final match of the BSAM organized Greatwhite-CCI Kekoo Nicholson Mumbai Billiards League 2023, played at the Cricket Club of India’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall, late Wednesday evening.
In the semi-finals, Park Club run into another strong title contender and former champions P.J. Hindu Gymkhana, who breezed past Bombay Gymkhana 411-278, on the side table. Seasoned cueists Rovin D’Souza and Siddharth Parikh once again lived up to the expectations of their team and delivered the goods by convincingly winning both their respective matches which set the tone for their victory.
In the other quarter-finals, defending champions Mandpeshwar Civic Federation (MCF) came up with a collective team effort to halt the brilliant winning run of Matoshree Club by snatching a tense 555-544 victory. MCF captain Rohan Jabusaria (-60) with a last ditch effort constructed a break 58 which enabled him to snatch a 200-132 win against Yash Rungta (+20) who fell short by 11 points as he was left to score 143 points to secure their win.
Park Club, who went into the match with a substantial 150 points (team handicap 100 points and Khar Gymkhana -50 points handicap) advantage, started badly as Lalit Jham (+60) lost to Khar Gymkhana youngster Sumer Mago (-10) 160-200. Later, Khar Gymkhana’s ace cueist Ishpreet Singh Chadha (-70) put on another stellar show and tamed Sanjiv Bijlani 200-72 winning by a massive 128 point difference and in the process provided his team an 18 point advantage going into the third tie of the match.
Deepak Khubchandani (+30) was left to score 182 points to ensure Khar Gymkhan’s win while Gehani was required to score the full 200 points. He rose to the challenge and with small steady breaks kept accumulating the points before cruising through with a degree of comfort and clinching the match in Park Club’s favour.
Khar Gymkhana’s ‘B’ also crashed out, losing to NSCI ‘A’ 391-563 in the last eight round.
Results – Quarter-finals: Mandpeshwar Civic Federation beat Matoshree Club 555-544 (Chandu Kansodaria (SCR) bt Parag Paithankar (+65) 200-125, Akshay Gogri (+15) bt Anil Sagar (+65) 200-137, Rohan Jambusaria (-60) bt Yash Rungta (+20) 200-132).
NSCI ‘A’ beat Khar Gymkhana ‘B’ 563-391 (Abhishek Joshi (+20) bt Kreishh Gurbaxani (-25) 200-184, Abhishek Bajaj (+60) bt Sparsh Pherwani (-35) 150-200, Siddhesh Khaitan (+65) bt Varsha Sanjeev (+35) 68-32).
P.J. Hindu Gymkkhana ‘A’ beat Bombay Gymkhana 411-278 (Rovin D'Souza (-20) bt Vishwajeet Mohan (+30) 200-95, Siddharth Parikh (-90) bt Kaizad Fitter (+30) 200-71, Devansh Jariwala (+60) Rishabh Kumar (-15) 61-67).
Park Club beat Khar Gymkhana ‘A’ 532-448 (Lalit Jham (+60) lost to Sumer Mago (-10) 160-200, Sanjiv Bijlani (+50) lost to Ishpreet Singh Chadha 72-200, Vishal Gehani (-10) bt Deepak Khubchandani (+30) 200-98).
NOTE: below is the scores without the players’ names.
Results – Quarter-finals: Mandpeshwar Civic Federation beat Matoshree Club 555-544.
NSCI ‘A’ beat Khar Gymkhana ‘B’ 563-391.
P.J. Hindu Gymkkhana ‘A’ beat Bombay Gymkhana 411-278.
Park Club beat Khar Gymkhana ‘A’ 532-448 .