Seasoned Chennai-based cueist Rafat Habib launched his campaign in splendid fashion constructing three decent breaks of 40, 49 and 43 points in successive frames, which set the tone for his fluent 3-0 (62-16, 57-2, and 77-11) victory against Abhishek Darge in a second round phase-1 match 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.
Habib’s citymate Wasim Ahmed also made a positive start defeating Suraj Karande 3-0 (58-32, 72-27, and 65-27) frame scores in a second round match. Hyderabad cueist K. Venkatesham was another second round winner as he eased past Mohsin Achhava by a clear 3-0 (57-35, 72-36, and 66-30) margin.
Meanwhile, local challenger Anurag Bagri continued with his impressive run of form and scored a stunning win against fancied Tahaa Khan of Pune marching to a 3-1 (17-84, 69-16, 63-61, and 59-45) victory to sail into the third round.
In a third round encounter, veteran billiards pro Devendra Joshi showed excellent potting touch and tamed Piyush Limbad by a waltzed to a 3-0 (55-10, 63-49, and 72-18) victory with a degree of comfort to advance to the next round.
Avinash Kumar joined Joshi in the fourth round as he staved off a strong fight from the experienced Marzdi Kalyaniwala pulling off a 3-2 (60-23, 73-16, 40-66, 14-63, and 70-25) win. Kumar compiled breaks of 30 and 34 in the second frame.
Results: Abhinav Dhiman bt Vishal Vaya 61(31)-30, 13-67, 29-75, 72-69, 61-36;
Ranveer Singh bt Zareer Shroff 61-27, 72(52)-11, 69(34)-67;
Rajat Kaneja bt Manan Shah 69(69)-13, 63-52, 44-34;
Sumeet Sharma bt Sunil Jain 62-37, 62-48, 49-34;
Anurag Bagri bt Tahaa Khan 17-84(43), 69-16, 63-61(49), 59-45;
Wasim Ahmed bt Suraj Karande 58-32, 72-27, 65-27;
Rafat Habib bt Abhishek Darge 62(40)-16, 57(49)-2, 77(43)-11;
K. Venkatesham bt Mohsin Achhava 57-35, 72-36, 66-30;
Khaushal Galaiya bt Gaurav Deshmukh 19-70, 69-24, 73-53, 53-20;
Pankaj Khatri bt Sharad Sharma 71-34, 55-32, 61-7;
Devendra Joshi bt Piyush Limbad 55-10, 63-49, 72-18;
Avinash Kumar bt Marzdi Kalyaniwala 60-23, 73(30,34)-16, 40-66, 14-63, 70-25;