Former India stalwart Rupesh Shah stunned former Asian medalist and world bronze medalist Shivam Arora 4-3 in an action-packed thriller to make the pre-quarterfinals of the “The Yasin Merchant Snooker Challenge-2022”, hosted by Khar Gymkhana in memory of their umpteen times national champion Shyam Shroff, here today. Later in the day, Rupesh got the better of Sumer Mago 4-2 to sail into the quarters.
The tie between Rupesh and Shivam was full of ups and downs with Rupesh having an upper hand in the first and third frames while Shivam twice hit back in the fourth and fifth frames to lead 3-2. However, in the end it was Rupesh who kept up the pressure to wrap up the tie at 70-38, 41-55, 67-42, 8-79, 0-71, 69-31, 59-46.
While two internationals PSCB’s Manan Chandra and Kamal Chawla providing thrilling affair for a place in the quarterfinals, it was Manan, who came out triumphant 4-3 after both shared the first six frames. In the decider frame, Kamal led by 30 points, but Manan twice snookered him, resulting in Kamal fouling on both occasions to let Manan off the hook.
Meanwhile, Asian No. 2 Ishpreet produced superb display that must have pleased his legendary ‘Guru’ Yasin Merchant. Trailing 1-3, Ishpreet produced stunning breaks of 86 and 124 – the highest so far – in the next two frames that just floored Faisal Khan 4-2 (21-65, 74-30, 43-86, 86-5, 124[124]- 0, 67-49) to enter quarters.
Later in the day,Madhya Pradesh’s Anurag Giri just steamrolled Ayush Mittal 4-0 as he notched up breaks of 99 in first frame and 102 in the fourth while Junior Rayaan Rizmi continued his good run as ousted M.L.Laxman 4-2 (99-42, 99-6, 39-63, 26-71, 69-12, 65-26) to take his spot in the last eight.
Results : (Pre-quarter-finals): Ishpreet Singh bt Faisal Khan 4-2 (21-65, 74-30, 43-86, 86-5, 124[124]- 0, 67-49); Anurag Giri bt Ayush Mittal 4-0 (103[B99]-6, 65-28, 67-48, 101 [B101]-0; Rupesh Shah bt Shivam Arora 4-3 (70-38, 41-55, 67-42, 8-79, 0-71, 69-31, 59-46); Sourav Kothari bt Vijay Nichani 4-2 (64-26, 66-52, 15-62, 68-11, 4-74, 62-21; Digvijay Kadian bt Sparsh Pherwani 4-1 (68-17, 86-21, 67-44,19-51, 62-39). (Quarter-finals): Ishpreet Singh bt Anurag Giri 5-0 (114[114] -11, 131 [88] – 6, 73-23, 67-34, 60-22.