Home challenger Mukund Bharadia caused a major flutter as he sent defending champion Brijesh Damani of Indian Oil crashing out. The Cricket Club of India cueist showed plenty of grit and gumption as he quashed the aspirations of the Kolkata-based Damani by snatching a nerve-wracking 4-3 victory in the best-of-7-frame round of 16 match of the Rs 12.9 lakhs CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2019, and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room, on Sunday.
Playing in familiar surroundings on his home tables Bharadia struggled to settle down initially and conceded the initiative to Damani who hit a break of 69 to take the first frame before going on to win a close second to take a 2-0 lead. The second ranked Maharashtra player Bharadia steadily and confidently got into his stride and comfortably pocketed the next three frames to nose ahead 3-2. Last year’s champ Damani with some steady and cautious play won the sixth frame on the pink to force the seventh frame.
The decider was another close affair as both players adopted safety tactics in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Bharadia with some bold and gutsy play stayed ahead before winning the decider on the pink to clinch a 22-82, 24-56, 69-24, 74-48, 65-21, 55-67 and 47-38 victory to set-up a quarter-final meeting with top seed Pankaj Advani.
The top-ranked Indian cueist Advani of ONGC encountered initial resistance from Anurag Giri of Madhya Pradesh before posting a 4-2 win. The Bhopal player Giri put up a good fight and rolled in a composed break of 74 in the second, but thereafter, he was not able match the fluent play of Advani who charged to a 99-33, 36-103, 44-65, 62-54, 95-25 and 89-13 win.
Meanwhile, India number two Laxman Rawat and number three Aditya Mehta both recorded convincing victories to ease into the quarter-finals. Rawat (Indian Oil) got the better of Manan Chandra (BPCL) 4-2 (62-34, 35-74, 65-25, 36-95, 75-39, 68-7), while Mehta (ONGC) tamed R. Girish of (Railways) 4-1 (1-88(69), 79(57)-42, 91(91)-23, 73(68)-1, 62(43)-24). Mehta fired in four breaks of 57 (2nd frame), 91 (3rd) and 68 (4th) to complete his win.
Earlier, Himanshu Jain of Telangana was on a roll and powered his way past Rupesh Shah of Gujarat coasting to a 4-0 (78-50, 59-30, 89-50 and 72-34) victory.
Results – round of 32:
Anurag Giri (MP) beat Yasin Merchant (Mumbai) 4-1 (15-90, 62-50, 69(68)-59, 59-25, 67-36);
Lucky Vatnani (Telangana) beat Sparsh Perwani (Mumbai) 4-3 (24-67(52), 77-58, 62-19, 33-77(45), 45-40, 7-61, 66(52)-0);
Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat Avinash Kumar (Delhi) 80(80)-1, 80(72)-0, 70(50)-38, 71-16);
Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Monu Choudhry (Delhi) 4-1 (59-55, 61-43, 69-8, 11-71, 66-18);
Varun Madan (Delhi) beat E. Panduranga (Railways) 4-2 (51-62, 78(78)-42, 71-52, 75-28, 48-51, 73-31);
Results – round of 16:
Pankaj Advani (ONGC) beat Anurag Giri (MP) 4-2 (99-33, 36-103(74), 44-65, 62-54, 95(53)-25, 89-13);
Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Brijesh Damani (Indian OIl) 4-3 (22-82(69), 24-56, 69-24, 74-48, 65-21. 55-67, 47-38);
Malkeet Singh (Railways) beat S. Dilip Kumar (Railways) 4-3 (63(40)-12, 43-79, 82(82)-0, 53-60, 9-55, 66-40, 73-43);
Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mumbai) or Lucky Vatnani (Telangana) 4-3 (72-54, 71-29, 16-63, 53-44, 38-58, 31-72, 57-18);
Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat R. Girish (Railways) 4-1 (1-88(69), 79(57)-42, 91(91)-23, 73(68)-1, 62(43)-24);
Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Rupesh Shah (Gujarat) 4-0 (78-50, 59-30, 89-50, 72-34);
Varun Madan (Delhi) beat Sumit Talwar (Chandigarh) 4-2 (2-61, 1-76, 70-27, 64(42)-16, 84(52)-16, 88(67)-21);
Laxman Rawat (Indian Oil) beat Manan Chandra (BPCL) 4-2 (62-34, 35-74, 65-25, 36-95, 75-39, 68-7);