Seasoned campaigners Rishabh Kumar and Anurag Bagri registered contrasting victories in their respective first round phase-1 matches of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised Rs 6.4 lakh NSCI All India Snooker Open ‘Baulkline’ 2022, and played at the NSCI billiards hall.
Kumar was engaged in a keen tussle for supremacy with the evergreen Percy Patel and both the cueist boldly went from their shots and the exciting contest went to the wire. However, Kumar who trailed 1-2 showed nerves of steel and managed to win the last two frames to record a hard-earned 3-2 (54-41, 56-33, 47-56, 50-60, and 48-36) win in five closely fought frames.
On the other hand, Bagri quickly settled down and managed two small, but useful breaks in charging past Avinash Rajpal by a comfortable 3-0 (70-11, 83-36, and 61-11) win,
In other closely fought matches, Tanmay Jatkar defeated Rohan Jain 3-2 (56-48, 41-52, 41-35, 28-59, and 58-5), while Siddhant Phate got the better of Anil Sahani 3-2 (71-64, 57-23, 42-58, 50-58, and 63-19).
Vishwajeet Mohan had things much his own way and opened with a 30 point break which set the tone for his 3-0 (62-30, 62-52, and 60-18) win against Selven Samuel. Hasan Badami and Samay Wadhawan, both dropped a frame in winning their respective matches. Badami defeated Darshan Shah 3-1 (73-17, 41-62, 67-16, and 70-39) while Wadhawan prevailed over Bhaumik Panchal by an identical 3-1 (63-66, 66-51, 83-34, 80-3) frame scores. Wadhawan signed off with a run of 46 in the fourth frame.
Results: Akash Ramteke bt Pramod Shah 73-6, 86-8, 80-88, 76-60;
Tanmay Jatkar bt Rohan Jain 56-48, 41-52, 41-35, 28-59, 58-5;
Siddhant Phate bt Anil Sahani 71-64, 57-23, 42-58, 50-58, 63-19;
Manoj Nandwani bt Puskar Biyani 56-31, 57-25, 23-51, 60-11;
Rishabh Kumar bt Percy Patel 54-41, 56-33, 47-56, 50-60, 48-36;
Anurag Bagri bt Avinash Rajpal 70-11, 83-36, 61(33)-11;
Dwimidha A. bt Gaurav Patange 32-52, 51-3, 28-41, 60-6, 63-18;
Vishwajeet Mohan bt Selven Samuel 62(30)-30, 62-52, 60-18;
Hasan Badami bt Darshan Shah 73-17, 41-62, 67-16, 70-39;
Samay Wadhawan bt Bhaumik Panchal 63-66, 66-51, 83-34, 80(46)-3;