Showing his magic of yesteryears Yasin Merchant (+3 handicap) produced a master-class performance to steamroll over Anish Jhaveri (+32 handicap) by four frames to one and march to the quarter-final round 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.
Rovin D’Souza in action
In a last 16 match, the Khar Gymkhana maestro Yasin showed exquisite touch and left very limited opportunities for Jhaveri of Hindu Gymkhana to offer a fight. The former two-time Asian snooker champion Yasin with some controlled potting started with a run of 33 in the first frame and then hit the peak in the third with an unfinished effort of 87, which is the highest in the tournament at the moment. He then made two more big ones, a 62 in the fourth and 45 in the fifth during his 63(33)-43, 56-68, 90(87*)-32, 72(62)-33, 69(45)-33 win.
Hindu Gymkhana’s Rovin D’Souza (+10 handicap) also march to the quarter-final round with a commanding 4-1 win against Kaustubh Pathak (+32 handicap). Rovin started with breaks of 59 in first frame and later made breaks of 30 and 28 in the second frame and went on to record a 75(59)-37, 68(30,28)-32, 62-68, 73-69, 69-60 victory in the other pre-quarter-final match.
Yasin in the quarter-final will now play against Arun Agrawal (+18 handicap) who defeated Shailesh Rao (+35) 4-2. Arun was in control and managed to score 78(21)-47, 75(21)-49, 51-67, 75(25)-50, 58-59, 75-38 win.
Arun son Aditya (+14 handicap) could not join his dad in the last 8 round as he stumbled to defeat against Himanshu Jain (+3). The skillful Jain after losing the first two frames and down 1-3 made a solid comeback to finish the match winning at 16-66, 09-72(38), 93(41,22,20)-14, 29-60, 56-45, 55(40)-14, 56-25.
Results – (round of 32): Tushar Pankhania (+24) bt Kreishh Gurbaxani (+29) 3-1 (41-62, 66-36, 63-50, 64-49); Nikhil Saigal (+14) bt Abhishek Doshi (+32) 3-2 (34-66, 34-68, 62(20)-37, 68(23)-52, 73(23)-33); Rovin D’Souza (+10) bt Suresh Mahadik (+29) 3-0 (73(42)-43, 54-31, 55-30); Harmehr Mago (+24) bt Suraj Rathi (+18) 3-2 (37-67, 61-26, 63-54, 51-55, 55-32); Rishabh Thakkar (+14) bt C.S. Puranik (+32) 3-1 (75-40, 38-73, 68(20)-51, 71(52)-33); Kaustubh Pathak (+32) w/o Jagdish Khade (+32).
(Pre-quarter-finals): Yasin Merchant (+3) bt Anish Jhaveri (+32) 4-1 (63(33)-43, 56-68, 90(87*)-32, 72(62)-33, 69(45)-33); Arun Agrawal (+18) bt Shailesh Rao (+35) 4-2 (78(21)-47, 75(21)-49, 51-67, 75(25)-50, 58-59, 75-38); Manav Panchal (+10) bt Amardeep Bharaj (+32) 4-3 (60(22)-49, 43-73, 64(38)-38, 51-69, 66(23)-65, 50-84, 73(24)-44); Himanshu Jain (+3) bt Aditya Agrawal (+14) 4-3 (16-66, 09-72(38), 93(41,22,20)-14, 29-60, 56-45, 55(40)-14, 56-25); Rovin D’Souza (+10) bt Kaustubh Pathak (+32) 4-1 (75(59)-37, 68(30,28)-32, 62-68, 73-69, 69-60).