Pune’s Arantxa Sanchis was in prime form and caused a major upset as she snatched a tense 4-3 victory against Mumbai’s seasoned cueist Rishabh Thakkar in the best-of-7-frame, round of 64 match of the Rs 12.9 lakhs prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2019 and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room, on Thursday.
Aratnxa Sanchis of Pune surprised Mumbai’s seasoned player Rishabh Thakar with 4-3 in a round of 64 match of the CCI All India Open Snooker Championship
The National women runner-up, Arantxa, played confidently and held her nerves as she potted quite consistently against the experienced Thakkar to come out victorious in a topsy-turvy encounter. The left-handed Arantxa pulled through at 45-39, 51-60, 61-46, 59-22, 32-75, 28-59 and 61-44.
Earlier, Maharashtra’s number one ranked snooker player Sparsh Perwani staged a solid fight back to quell the challenge from Rovin D’souza of Railways pulling off a 4-2 win to also advance to the round of 32. The railway cueist Rovin called the shots initially and took the first two frames to wrest the early advantage.
But, the Cricket Club of India cueist Sparsh showed that he is made of sterner stuff and confidently and steadily clawed his way back by pocketing the next four frames on the trot. He first, narrowly won the third and then snatched the fourth by a close margin to level frame scores and he then maintained the momentum by also winning the fifth to nose ahead 3-2. Sparsh held his nerves and maintained his composure to win the sixth on the black ball to clinch a tense 48-66, 16-65, 50-41, 67-63, 63-54 and 58-57 win.
Mukund Bharadia, the second ranked Maharashtra snooker player, and Hasan Badami, both of Cricket Club of India easily won their round of 64 matches.
Bharadia who rolled in a beak of 52 in the third frame outclassed Railways Nitesh Madan winning in five frames at 4-1 (87-27, 28-53, 95-17, 88-9 and 48-22). Earlier, Badami compiled a run of 63 in the third to tame Pune’s Taaha Khan coasting to a 4-1 (61-14, 60-42, 98-8, 1-81 and 59-40 victory.
Former national champion Aditya Mehta (ONGC) after a tentative start and the loss of the opening frame but he recovered to overcome Faisal Khan of Railways by a 4-1 margin. Mehta struggled a bit but managed to script a 33-58, 67-28, 49-32, 60-22 and 64-17 victory.
Meanwhile, Rahul Sachdev another Cricket Club of India cueist cracked the highest break of 106 in the second frame to take a 2-0 lead, but thereafter lost his way and suffered a 2-4 defeat at the hands of Asutosh Padhy also from Mumbai.
Results – Round of 64 (best-of-7): Sparsh Perwani (Mumbai) beat Rovin D’souza (Mumbai) 4-2 (48-66, 16-65, 50-41, 67-63, 63-54, 58-57);
Mohd Hussain Khan (Rly) beat Shoaib Khan (Delhi) 4-2 (51-16, 76(58)-6, 48-41, 45-64, 38-77(40), 68-37);
Hasan Badami (Mumbai) beat Taaha Khan (Pune) 4-1 (61-14, 60-42, 98(63)-8, 1-81, 59-40);
Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Nitesh Madan (Railways) 4-1 (87-27, 28-53, 95(52)-17, 88-9, 48-22);
Avinash Kumar (Delhi) beat Nikhil Ootam (Mumbai) 4-0 (65-35, 59-40, 76-0, 60-14);
Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat Faisal Khan (Railways) 4-1 (33-58, 67-28, 49-32, 60-22, 64-17);
Nabil Lakadawala (Mumbai) beat M. Yogesh Kumar (Karnataka) 4-3 (66-64, 50-74, 56-47, 58-68, 55-17, 17-59, 76-0);
Asutosh Padhy (Mumbai) beat Rahul Sachdev (Mumbai) 4-2 (66-25, 0-106(106), 1-86, 62-61, 67-27, 69-57);
Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Abhishek Ahuja (Delhi) 4-2 (64-10, 73-68, 26-61, 0-88(74), 59-23, 68-35);
Arantxa Sanchis (Pune) beat Rishabh Thakkar (Mumbai) 4-3 (45-39, 51-60, 61-46, 59-22, 32-75, 28-59, 61-44);
E. Panduranga (Railways) beat Shabaaz Khan (Mumbai) 4-2 (47-71, 81(45)-8, 61-2, 73(41)-4, 2-82(78), 61-39);
Third round (best-of-5): Monu Choudhry (Delhi) beat Poras Shah (Mumbai) 3-1 (61-34, 62-21, 51-61, 61-29);
Rupesh Shah (Gujarat) beat Siddhart Tembe (Pune) 3-0 (76(61)-9, 63-22, 61-17);
Vimal Mariwala (Mumbai) beat Harpreet Singh (Delhi) 3-1 (71-48, 66-18, 20-16, 70-27);
Dhvaj Haria (ONGC) beat Sanket Mutha (Pune) 3-2 (75-49, 35-57, 23-56, 67-28, 70-68);
Manav Panchal (Mumbai) beat Nikhil Saigal (Mumbai) 3-0 (54-46, 74-9, 61-24);
Lucky Vatnani (Telangana) beat Piyush Limbad (Kolhapur) 3-0 (66-59, 73-38, 62-29);
Hitesh Kotwani (Mumbai) beat Ketan Chawla (ONGC) 3-2 (69-63, 50-58, 19-63, 89-1, 72-28);
Pushpinder Shingh (Delhi) beat Abhinav Dhiman 3-0 (82-38, 90-64, 88-15);