Khar Gymkhana’s Harmehr Mago showed great character and a strong spirit to fight as he came from 0-2 behind to prevail over seasoned campaigner and home favourite V. Subramanian 3-2 in five keenly contested frames in a second round match of the Matunga Gymkhana 9-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2017, which is sponsored and hosted by Matunga Gymkhana and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall.
Harmehr Mago in action
The Matunga Gymkhana player Subramanian (+21 handicap), fondly known as ‘Raja’ among the cues sports fraternity, got off to a perfect start against Harmehr (+32 handicap) and went on to pocket the opening two frames to grab a 2-0 lead. But, the upcoming Harmehr facing elimination rose to the challenge by producing a gallant fight back and managed to with the subsequent three frames to clinch a memorable 61(28)-72(28), 44-70, 61-31, 68-58 and 83-47 victory to progress to the next round. Meanwhile, Abhinay Edke and Rohan Sakalkar, both playing with identical handicaps of +18 points each, also encountered tough battles, but managed to advance to the third round. In a tense second round match, Edke trailed 1-2 against Shubhojit Roy (+35 handicap) but bounced back in style winning the next two frames to seal a 3-2 win with the frames scores at 58-69, 74-51, 52(27)-84(23), 73-50, 59-52. Similarly, Sakalakar also came from behind to overcome Naman Agrawal (+32 handicap) in five frames by scoring a 34-75, 61-42, 33-78(37), 81-49, 68-55 victory in another second round encounter. Qualifier, Rahul Parikh (+35 handicap) continued with his fine winning run of form and defeated Pankaj Khatri (+18 handicap) by three frames to one in another second round match.
Results – (round 2): Abhinay Edke (+18) bt Shubhojit Roy (+35) 3-2 (58-69, 74-51,52(27)-84(23), 73-50, 59-52); Harmehr Mago (+32) bt V. Subramanian (+21) 3-2 (61(28)-72(28), 44-70, 61-31, 68-58, 83-47); Chintamani Jadhav (+29) bt Manish Mordani (+ 35) 3-1 (55-79, 71-53, 69-50, 75-41); Abhishek Doshi (+32) bt Saurabh Mehrotra (+35) 3-1 (77-65, 59-52, 48-72, 85-42); Rahul Parikh (+35) bt Pankaj Khatri (+18) 3-1 (75(20)-26, 43-74, 66-56, 70(24)-27); Anurag Bagri (+21) bt Variksh Mehta (+35) 3-1 (52-63, 75(24)-48, 73-44, 75-36); Bapu Gaikwad (+35) bt Amit Thakkar (+35) 3-1 (68-86, 82-75, 74-54, 95-64); Rohan Sakalkar (+18) bt Naman Agrawal (+32) 3-2 (34-75, 61-42, 33-78(37), 81-49, 68-55).