Shivam Arora of Bihar and Anuj Uppal of Delhi advanced to the phase-I quarter-final round of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised Rs 6.4 lakh-NSCI All India Snooker Open ‘Baulkline’ 2022.
In a last 16 encounter, Arora was a bit hesitant initially, but managed a couple of small efforts which helped to pocket the first two frames. He then signed off in style, compiling a break of 87 points in the third to hand Delhi’s Sumeet Talwar a 3-0 (66-56, 85-47, and 91-0) victory. On the other hand, Uppal constructed breaks of 38, 74 and 63 in defeating Gujarat’s Ranveer Singh 3-1 (54-18, 98-0, 29-60, and 91-0).
Dilip Kumar of Tamil Nadu also moved into the last 8 round beating Shabaz Khan of Maharashtra 3-0 (34-13, 71-9, and 52-5) in a low-scoring pre-quarter-final match.
Maharashtra cueists, Sparsh Pherwani and Hasan Badami both potted confidently to win their respective last 16 round matches. Pherwani started with a flourish rolling in a break of 90 points and went on to tame Avinash Kumar of Delhi 3-1 (107-16, 66-64, 49-65, and 72-32). Badami produced breaks of 45 and 56 which paved the way for his stunning 3-1 (68-32, 17-71, 79-29, and 60-22).
Results – Round 16: Dilip Kumar (TN) bt Shabaz Khan (MAH) 34-13, 71-9, 52-5;
Anuj Uppal (DEL) bt Ranveer Singh (GUJ) 54(38)-18, 98(74)-0, 29-60, 91(63)-0;
Sparsh Pherwani (MAH) bt Avinash Kumar (DEL) 107(90)-16, 66-64, 49-65, 72-32;
Digvijay Kadian (HAR) bt Rahul Sachdev (MAH) 67-18, 51-66, 77(54)-5, 62-54;
Shivam Arora (BIH) bt Sumeet Talwar (DEL) 66-56(36), 85-47(39), 91(87)-0;
Vishwajeet Mohan (UP) bt Nitesh Madan (RLY) 32-77(59), 79-35, 59-34, 61-31;
Hasan Badami (MAH) bt K. Venkatesham (RLY) 68(45)-32, 17-71(40), 79(56)-29, 60-22;
Rajat Kanejia (CHD) bt Vishal Gehani (MAH) 82(47,35)-3, 58-47, 60-50;