Siddharth Parikh (handicap -625) was at his magnificent best and compiled two sizeable breaks of 272, the best in the tournament, and 187 to record a crucial win against Umesh Barve (-145) by a comfortable 250-87 points difference in the concluding Group-B league match, of the SPG-PCL Billiards Tournament 2022, and played at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana and Park Club billiards halls. The previous best break in the competition so far was 240 constructed by V. Subramanian in a Group-H league match.
Parikh, a former Gold medal winner of the Asian Billiards Sports Championship, confidently played the winning hazards (in-offs) and with efficiently made the cannons to accumulate the points in building those huge efforts, which ensured his second win in the group and qualify for the pre-quarter-finals. He also made breaks of 98 and 76 to end Brave’s run in the tournament.
Earlier, Parikh failed to get into rhythm and was woefully out of form. Despite making breaks of 134, 97, 87, and 52 he suffered a defeat at the hands of National Sub-Junior billiards champion Sumehr Mago (-200) who registered his third successive win in the group. Both Sumehr and Parikh qualified for the next round from this group.
Meanwhile, Vishal Gehani (-240) continued with his impressive run of form and easily defeated Shubham Randhe (-145) by a convincing 250-37 points margin for his third consecutive win in Group-E league. Gehani topped the group ahead of Arun Agrawal who was placed second.
In concluding Group-G encounters, Mahesh Jagdale (-300) scored back-to-back victories. Jagdale first defeated Rovin D’souza (-275) 250-55 and later returned to overcome Vishal Madan (-425) by a close 250-207 margin for his second win and join Rayaan Razmi in the next round. Razmi who won all three matches finished at the top and Jagdale took the second position.
Results – Group-B: Sumehr Mago (-200) beat Siddharth Parikh (-625) 250-13; Siddharth Parikh (-625) beat Umesh Barwe (-145) 250-87.
Group-C: Akshay Gogri (-180) beat Mahadev Bhogle (-190) 250-212.
Group-E: Vishal Gehani (-240) beat Shubham Randhe (-145) 250-37.
Group-F: Hasan Badami (-240) beat Aditya Agrawal (-475) 250-65; Hitesh Kotwani (-475) beat Chandresh Shah ( -230) 250-166; Hitesh Kotwani (-475) beat Aditya Agrawal (-475) 250-50.
Group-G: Mahesh Jagdale (-300) beat Rovin D’souza (-275) 250-55.
Mahesh Jagdale (-300) beat Vishal Madan (-425) 250-207.
Group-H: Shahyan Razmi (-180) Beat Loukick Pathare (-425) 250-197; Loukic Pathare (-425) Beat V. Subramanian (-425) 250-72.