Former Asian Games Gold medalist, Rafat Habib of Railways was in prime form and recorded two successive wins in Group-D of the MIG Cricket Club organized third Master’s National Snooker Championship – 2019, and played at the MIG Club billiards hall on Sunday. The event is being organised under the aegis of BSFI and BSAM.
Rafat Habib
First, the Chennai-based Habib warmed-up nicely as he played steadily to defeat Maharashtra’s Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10). Later, Habib produced some impressive performances as he constructed three substantial breaks of 77 (1st frame), 55 (3rd frame) and 45 (4th frame) as he went on to record a 3-1 win against Maharashtra Sanjiv Shah, who tried his best to put up a challenge. The bearded Habib was in full flow and clinched an 88-26, 31-55, 74-14 and 85-01 victory and has virtually assured himself a place in the next phase of the competition. He has a match against Dhruv Agarwal of West Bengal on Monday.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s D. Rajkumar started with a flourish by convincingly winning both his matches in Group-E. The Karnataka cueist blanked Shekhar Surve of Railways 3-0 (86-59, 87-17 and 86-01) and then halted the fine run of Goa’s Samar Khandelwal by recording a fluent 3-0 (85-43, 62-08, 64-03) victory. Both Rajkumar and Khandelwal (2 wins, 1 loss) are in contention of qualifying for the knockout rounds from this group.
Anuj Upal of Delhi and Rafat Habib of Railways launched the campaign on a winning track. Upal defeated Maharashtra’s Bapu Gaikwad 3-0 (76-16, 75-19 and 92-08) in a Group-C match, while in Group-D encounter, Habib prevailed over Maharashtra’s Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10).
Results – Group C: Anuj Upal (DEL) beat Bapu Gaikwad (MH) 3-0 (76-16, 75-19, 92-08);
Prabdeep Singh (MH) beat Ishtmit Singh Malik (UP) 3-1 (66-41, 38-65, 71-40, 74-36).
Group D: Rafath Habib (RLY) beat Amit Sapru (MH) 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46, 77-10).
Rafat Habib beat Sanjiv Shah (MH) 3-1 (88(77)-26, 31-55, 74(55)-14, 85(45)-01).
Group E: D. Rajkumar (KTK) beat Shekhar Surve (RLY) 3-0 (86-59, 87-17, 86-01);
Rajkumar (KTK) beat Samar Khandelwal (GOA) 3-0 (85-43, 62-08, 64-03).
Group F: Vilas Upshyam (MH) beat L. Nagaraj (KTK) 3-0 (45-41, 52-32, 62-29); L. Nagaraj (KTK) beat Pankaj Vanjari (MH) 3-1 (65(45)-24, 95-19, 37-46, 70-15).
Group H: Vishal Gehani (MH) beat M. Baskaran (TN) 3-1 (60-41, 34-52, 65-26, 52-12).
Group J: Kankan Shamsi (UP) beat Amish (GUJ) 3-1 (74-37, 55-24, 67-31).