Shivam Arora of Bihar and Vishal Gehani of Mumbai registered comfortable victories and have booked their berths in the main draw of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised Rs 6.4 lakh-NSCI All India Snooker Open ‘Baulkline’ 2022.
In a round of 32 encounter Arora brushed aside the spirited challenge from veteran Chennai-based cueist Rafat Habib posting a 4-2 (62-30, 60-69, 6-91, 72-35, 64-41, and 71-16) victory. Arora compiled multiple breaks of 54, 65, 47 and 45 which secured his win, while Habib had runs of 35 and 91 in the match.
Earlier in the day, Gehani potted confidently and managed to dash the hopes of city mate Anurag Bagri coasting to a fluent 4-1 (67-42, 56-27, 63-51, 47-60, and 56-46) victory to seal his place in the last 16.
NSCI billiards marker Ajinkya Yelve’s fine winning run came to an end as he went down fighting to the superior Dilip Kumar of Tamil Nadu. Kumar potted steadily and closed the contest winning 4-1 (13-73, 67-9, 59-59, 61-20, and 88-36).
Rajat Kanejia of Chandigarh and Digvijay Kadian of Haryana also won the last 32 round matches and confirmed their spots in the last 16. Kanejia fired breaks of 75, 31 and 37 and charged past Maharashtra’s Pankaj Khatri by a quick 4-0 (77-43, 69-17, 57-44, and 51-43) win while Kadian started with a bang rolling in a break of 89 in the first frame and went on to defeat Saad Sayed of Maharashtra 4-2 (119-5, 47-68, 58-45, 41-51, 72-35, and 64-18).
Results – Round 32: Dilip Kumar (TN) bt Ajinkya Yelve (MAH) 13-73, 67-9, 59-59, 61-20, 88-36;
Rajat Kanejia (CHD) bt Pankaj Khatri (MAH) 77(75)-43, 69(31)-17, 57(37)-44, 51-43;
Vishal Gehani (MAH) bt Anurag Bagri (MAH) 67-42, 56-27, 63-51, 47-60, 56-46;
Nitesh Madan (RLY) bt Rohit Rawat (MAH) 26-61, 53-13, 58-62, 75(61)-19, 25-52, 56-9.78-10;
Shivam Arora (BIH) bt Rafat Habib (RLY) 62-30, 60(54)-69(35), 6-91(91), 72(65)-35, 64(47)-41, 71(45)-16;
Anuj Uppal (DEL) bt Wasim Ahmed (RLY) 67-15, 53-52, 42-0, conceded;
Digvijay Kadian (HAR) bt Saad Sayed (MAH) 119(89)-5, 47-68, 58-45, 41-51, 72-35, 64-18;
Shabaz Khan (MAH) bt Rishabh Thakkar (MAH) 64-58, 66-13, 59-19, 48-68, 51-61, 59-48;