Strong title contenders Rishabh Thakkar of Otters Club and Rohan Jambusaria of Mandpeshwar Civic Foundation, with a measure of ease, won their respective last 16 round matches and have set up an interesting quarter-final clash in the Bombay Gymkhana Handicap Billiards Tournament 2018.
Rishabh Thakkar
Maharashtra state champion Thakkar (-375 handicap) rolled out a simple steady performance against less experienced Pranay More (-60) of Malabar Hill Club in a pre-quarter-final encounter at the Bombay Gym billiards room, late on Sunday evening. Thakkar made break of 90, 88, 86, 56 and 52 en route to 575-137 victory.
Jambusaria (-375), also had a relaxed outing against Bombay Gymkhana’s Sanjay Gamre (-115) and comforabley strolled to victory. Playing confidently, Jambusaria strong together two substantial efforts of 114 and 62 to clinch a 575-63 sucess.
Rohan Jambusaria
Meanwhile, Cricket Club of India’s Raj Khandwala (-140) continued with his fine winning streak and managed to overcome fancied Rishabh Kumar (-225) of Bombay Gymkhana in a tense encounter. Kumar, who had to score 425 points for a win, did well to cover his handicap (225) but fell short by 36 points as Khandwala after covering his handicap raced to 200 points, scoring a total of 340 as against the 389 scored by Kumar.
Elphinstone CC Anurag Bagri (-140) also advanced to the quarter-final when he sidelined Raajeev Sharma (-175) of Malabar Hill Club 340-282 in another round of 16 match.
Results (pre-quarter-finals): Rishabh Thakkar (Otters Club, -375) beat Pranay More (Malabar Hill Club, -60) 575-137;
Rohan Jambusaria (MCF, -375) beat Sanjay Gamre (Bombay Gym, -115) 575-178;
Raj Khandwala (CCI, -140) beat Rishabh Kumar (Bombay Gym, -225) 340-389(225+164);
Anurag Bagri (Elphinstone CC, -140) beat Raajeev Sharma (Malabar Hill Club, -175) 340-282;
Kamal Chawla (Railways, -325) beat Dhruv Sitwala (Hindu Gym, -525) 525-512;
Vishal Madan (Chembur Gym, -375) beat Aditya Agrawal (Elphinstone CC, -400) 575-245;
Devendra Joshi (Hindu Gym, -475) beat 15 Shekhar Surve (Railways, -150) 675-119.