Tamil Nadu lad S. Shrikrishna is going great guns and charged to his second successive win when he beat back a late fight from senior pro Nalin Patel of Maharashtra and went on to clinch a comfortable 449-319 victory in a Group-G league match of Rs 3.8 lakhs prize-money CCI Billiards Classic 2018, organized by the Cricket Club of India and played at the Club’s Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room, Churchgate on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu lad S. Shrikrishna is going great guns and recorded his second successive win defeating Nalin Patel of Maharashtra by 449-319 points in a Group-G league match of CI Billiards Classic 2018
The young BPCL cueist Shrikrishna was cool and composed as he faced off against Patel, who is vastly experienced as he had been playing on the pro circuit for several years. Shrikrishna just kept it simple and did well to grab every opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking and with the help of three decent half century breaks, 58, 79, and 76 he led from the start. Patel produced a late charge by making breaks of 54 and 99, but it was a little too late as the Chennai youngsters crossed the finish line with a 130 points difference.
The Chennai-based Shrikrishna had earlier defeated another Maharashtra player Rishabh Kumar 448-318.
Former two-time Asian Billiards Champions Dhruv Sitwala of ONGC in action against Nishant Dossa of Maharashtra in a Group-H match of the CCI Billiards Classic 2018
Meanwhile, former two-time Asian Billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala of ONGC maintained the winning momentum as he prevailed over Maharashtra’s Chandu Kansodaria 370-268 to register his second win in Group-G and virtually seal his berth in the knockout round of 16.
Sitwala had earlier produced a virtuoso performance and crafted a slick run of 152 en route to a commendable 435-142 victory against Maharashtra’s Nishant Dossa in a one-side contest.
Later in the day, former World Champion Rupesh Shah of ONGC also recorded back to back wins in Group-C. The Gujarat cueist in the process also compiled a break of 177, the highest in the tournament, as he outplayed Shekhar Surve of Maharashtra by a massive 569-175 margin with a degree of comfort. Shah in his opening match defeated Maharashtra’s V. Subramaniam 364-204.
Another former Asian champion Alok Kumar of ONGC also showed good touch by winning both his matches in Group-D and virtually assured himself a place in the pre-quarter-finals. Alok who had defeated Maharashtra number one junior ranked player Raayan Razmi 557-351 in the first match on Monday, returned to hand Neeraj Kumar of Railways a 438-300 defeat.
Meanwhile, former World champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways warmed up nicely as he posted a comfortable 397-224 win against Maharashtra’s Rajeev Sharma in a Group-A match. Shandilya played steadily and had just one break of 96 for his showing.
Results – Group-A: Ashok Shandilya (Rlys) beat Rajeev Sharma (Mah) 397(96)-224;
Group-A: Hasan Badami (Mah) beat Sandeep Gulati 435(66.74,65)-216;
Group-C: Rohan Jambasuria (Mah) beat Shekhar Surve (Mah) 291(61)-259(58);
Group-C: Rupesh Shah (ONGC) beat V. Subramaniam (Mah) 364-204;
Rupesh Shah beat Shekhar Surve (Mah) 569(177,60,54)-175;
Group-D: Alok Kumar (ONGC) beat Rayaan Razmi (Mah) 557 (85,76)-351;
Alok Kumar (ONGC) beat Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) 438(45,51,48)-300;
Group-E: S. Simhachalam ( ) beat Loukic Pathare (Mah) 279-277;
Group-F: K. Venkatesh (Rlys ) beat Raj Khandawala (Mah) 443(67,76)-302;
Group-F: Devendra Joshi (BPCL) beat Hitesh Kotwani (Mah) 524 (92,78)-195;
Group-G: S. Shrikrishna (BPCL) beat Nalin Patel (Mah) 449(58,79,76)-319(54,99);
Group-H: Dhruv Sitwala (ONGC) beat Nishant Dossa (Mah) 435(152,70,70,57)-142.
Dhruv Sitwala beat Chandu Kansodaria (Mah) 370(102)-268;