Kolkata’s seasoned cueist Shakeel Ahmed displayed plenty of perseverance to snatch a hard-fought 3-2 win against Mumbai’s Veshal Gehani in a second round match of the CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2019 and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room on Monday.
Shakeel Ahmed of Railways he attempts a pot during his match against Mumbai’s Veshal Gehani in the CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2019.
The 52-year-old Eastern Railway player Shakeel took off on the right track and easily pocketed the opening two frames. But all of sudden he lost his way as Vishal clawed his way back to win the next two to level scores and take the match to the decider. In the fifth, Shakeel kept his cool and made use of his vast experience as he grabbed the opportunitees that came his way every time Vishal missed easy pots and went on to complete a 88-20, 61-22, 19-64, 61-70 and 48-16 victory to progress to the third round.
However, Shakeel’s compatriot Shoaib Khan fell by the wayside as he suffered a stunning 1-3 defeat to Delhi’s Harpreet Singh. The Delhi cueist Harpreet potted steadily and romped to a convincing 66-27, 31-67, 78-25 and 57-10 win to also advance to the third round.
Meanwhile, two other Railway cueists, E. Panduranga and K. Srinu, both steamrolled past their respective opponents to seal their berths in the round of 64.
In a third round match, Panduranga overcame Hanish Sharma of Delhi recording an authoritative 3-0 (74-44, 89-44, 78-53) while Srinu proved too good for Luv Kukreja also from Delhi and raced to a 3-0 (68-56, 67-31, 55-8) win.
Mumbai’s Nikhil Saigal of Khar Gymkhana compiled a break of 54 in the third frame and powered his way past Nagpur’s Ashish Yadhav storming to a 3-0 (48-7, 61-15, 67-35) victory.
Meanwhile, Pune cueist Sanket Mutha worked hard to prevail over Harpreet Saluja of Nagpur by a 3-2 (69-29, 90-10, 52-59, 56-59, 65-22) scoreline.
Results – First round: Harpreet Saluja (Nagpur) beat Pranjal Shukla (Bhopal) 3-1 (58-30, 57-2, 44-49, 63-35);
Shakeel Ahmed (Railways beat A. Arvind Kumar (Railways) 3-2 (80-17, 15-76(59), 36-62, 66-33, 62-29);
Ankur Nanda (Chandigarh) beat Tushar Mankar (Nagpur) 3-0 (58-18, 66-19, 74-25);
Abhinav Dhiman beat Bakirao P. (Mumbai) 3-1 (59-40, 66-37, 58-65, 64-10);
Vimal Mariwala (Mumbai) beat Arun Barwe (Pune) 3-2 (56-16, 19-60, 64-17, 31-82, 59-37);
Second round: Nikhil Saigal (Mumbai) beat Ashish Yadhav (Nagpur) 3-0 (48-7, 61-`15, 67(54)-35);
R2– Abhishek Ahuja (Delhi) beat Mahesh Jagdale (Mumbai) 3-1 (63-37, 13-68, 53-27, 80-21);
M.S. Arun (Karnataka) beat Ken Simon (MP) 3-0 (78-36, 76-63, 59-22);
Shakeel Ahmed (Kolkata) beat Vishal Gehani (Mumbai) 3-2 (88-20, 61-22, 19-64, 61-70, 48-16);
Harpreet Singh (Delhi) beat Shoaib Khan (Railways) 3-1 (66-27, 31-67, 78-25, 57-10);
Sanket Mutha (Pune) beat Harpreet Saluja (Nagpur) 3-2 (69-29, 90-10, 52-59, 56-59, 65-22);
E. Panduranga (Railways) beat Mitang Soni 3-0 (78-48, 62-21, 64(40)-1);
Third round: K. Srinu (Railways) beat Luv Kukreja (Delhi) 3-0 (68-56, 67-31, 55-8);
E. Panduranga (Railways) beat Hanish Sharma (Delhi) 3-0 (74-44, 89-44, 78-53);
Faisal Khan (Railways) beat Anuj Agarwal 3-1 (56-30, 92-24, 20-44, 49-40);
Saad Sayed (Pune) beat Ankur Nanda (Chandigarh) 3-0 (66-9, 71(42)-28, 39-34);
Rovin D’Souza (Railways) beat Pankaj Khatri (Nashik) 3-0 (63-22, 59-40, 54-46);
Vishal Vaya (Mumbai) beat Abimanyu Gandhi (Mumbai) 3-2 (64-8, 59-10, 35-66(42), 0-67, 66-17);