Nikhil Ghadge made an impressive start, but after leading 2-0, faultered thereafter and allowed his rival Rahul Parekh to recover and take the tie to the decider before Nikhil asserted himself to win the tie 3-2 to move into the third qualifying round of the “The Yasin Merchant Snooker Challenge-2022”, held in memory of their ex-president Mr Shyam Shroff, at Khar Gymkhana here today. Nikhil heaved a sigh of relief after he prevailed at 3-2 (43-19, 62-40, 49-61, 55-62, 54-21).
Joining Nikhil in the penultimate round were Aashit Pandya, who stopped Yudi Jaisingh after losing the opening frame for a creditable 63-40, 71-75, 70-44, 66-56 win . Also through was Ajinkya Yelve, who made short work of Krish Shetty 3-0 (64-22, 68-7, 67-30) and Souvick Mallick who likewise gave his opponent Swapnil Khaire no respite before romping home to 59-29, 72-48, 56-42 victory.
Results : (2nd Qualifying round): Vilas Upsham bt Raj Charri 3-1 (53-15, 29-57, 67-14, 72-62); Aashit Pandya bt Yudi Jaisingh 3-1 (63-40, 71-75, 70-44, 66-56); Ajinkya Yelve bt Krish Shetty 3-0 (64-22, 68-7, 67-30); Nikhil Ghadge bt Rahul Parekh 3-2 (43-19, 62-40, 49-61, 55-62, 54-21); Souvick Mallick bt Swapnil Khaire 3-0 (59-29, 72-48, 56-42).
(1st round): Umesh Prajapati bt Joseph Menezes 3-2 (52-68, 67-38, 10-68, 52-13, 61-26); Yash Babani bt Rishikesh Yadav 3-2 (26-39; 39-71, 73-18, 52-41, 61-16); Krunal Gosaliya bt Vivek Shah 3-2 (59-24, 46-55, 59-45, 21-45, 87-59); Sunil Jain bt Amardeep Bharaj 3-2 (76-8, 50-45, 16-65, 49-53, 84-1); Santosh Mane bt Gaurav Vithlani 3-2 (29-50, 19-51, 53-20,67-40, 65-45); Arjit Ray bt Anant Mehta 3-0 (40-32, 77-56, 44-37); Manish M bt Keyur Doshi 3-1 (19-57, 60-38, 62-50, 57-19); Dipesh Jain bt Rohit Khanna 3-0 (56-18, 74-29, 58-10); Krishna Vora bt Hasnain Vakil 3-1 (74-11, 83-19, 44-51, 51-14; Siddharth S bt Aakash Asrani 3-0 (57-42, 80-17, 51-49); Suraj Shirke bt Anup Takle 3-1 (18-56, 57-53, 53-34, 58-25); Prayanshu Palan bt Janak Masand 3-0 (64-25, 68-45, 55-51).
CLOCK FOR WEDNESDAY –
SNOOKER – 11 a.m. onwards – Qualifying rounds; “The Yasin Merchant Challenge-2022: Khar Gymkhana.