India number two, Dhruv Sitwala, was in sizzling form and hit the high notes constructing two double century breaks as he inflicted a crushing defeat on Hasan Badami in a quarter-final match of the SPG-PCL Billiards Tournament 2022, played at the Park Club billiards hall.
The left-handed Sitwala, who had lost to compatriot Pankaj Advani in the final of the Asian Billiards Championship 2022, in Doha, Qatar in March, showed exquisite touch and precision to dominate the match. Playing with a revised handicap of -780, Sitwala, looked in total control and outclassed Badami -300, who fell 202 points short of covering-up his handicap. After warming with decent efforts Sitwala uncorked a well-constructed break of 280, which bettered the previous best of 272 compiled by Siddharth Parikh in the group phase of the competition, he then signed off in style with an unfinished 238 break to complete a 300-(-202) win in the race-to-300 match and to move into the semi-finals.
Standing in Sitawala’s passage to the final, is Sub-Junior National billiards champ, Sumehr Mago (-280) who ended the fine run of Vishal Gehani (-325) who was unable to find his touch to spend time at the table and put up a fight. Sumehr boldly went for his shots and had three noteable breaks of 56, 52 and 49 which helped him earn a 300-156 win at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana billiards hall.
Meanwhile, double Junior National champion, Rayaan Razmi (handicap -540) was once again his cool, composed self and scored at almost every visit and raced past Hitesh Kotwani (-375) recording a 300-226 victory. Rayaan’s noteworthy efforts were 107, 81, 65, 61, and 55, while Kotwani had one decent effort of 62 and a couple of smaller breaks.
In the semi-final, Rayaan will clash with Akshay Gogri (-300) who stunned the fancied Siddharth Parikh (-750) by 300-(-92) margin. Parikh was way not at his best and could manage breaks of 83, 83, 69, 61, and 55 and bowed out.
Results – Quarter-finals: Rayaan Razmi (-540) beat Hitesh Kotwani (-375) 300-226; Akshay Gogri (-300) beat Siddharth Parikh (-750) 300-(-92); Dhruv Sitwala (-780) beat Hasan Badami (-300) 300-(-202); Sumehr Mago (-280) beat Vishal Gehani (-325) 300-156.