Seasoned campaigner Yasin Merchant of Mumbai showed the class of yore and charged past Asutosh Padhy of Odisha coasting to a 4-1 (77-20, 69-47, 0-91, 65-40, and 75-68) victory in a round of 64 best-of-7-frame match of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised ‘Baulkline’ NSCI Rs 13 lakh prize-money All India Snooker Open 2023, at the NSCI billiards hall, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Yasin’s prodigies Ishpreet Singh Chadha and Kreishh Gurbaxani, both from Mumbai also comfortably won their respective matches to advance to the round of 32.
Former National champion and current India No. three Ishpreet defeated compatriot Rishabh Kumar coasting to a quick straight frame 4-0 (62-39, 90-39, 104(91)-0, 83-12). Ishpreet was in complete control and constructed a break of 91 in the third frame.
Kreishh, a former sub-junior National champion who had won both the snooker and billiards champion in 2020, was in rocking form and compiled a massive 103 points break in the second frame and went on to sent seasoned Railway cueist Rafat Habib (Rly) crashing to 4-1 (12-71, 103-29, 71-13, 73-43, and 84-12) victory.
The two-time Asian snooker champion Yasin quickly settled down and potted steadily and although he failed to construct a sizable break, he still managed to comfortably cross the finish line to secure a place in the next round. In contrast, the younger Odisha cueist Asutosh seemed overawed by his opponent’s fine touch and was unable to cash in on the many chances and except for a neat break of 83 in the third frame which he won, he played way below par.
Delhi contender Jaison Malhotra showed good touch and was in excellent form as he recorded a stunning win against fancied Faisal Khan of Railways racing to a 4-1 (29-77, 65-43, 92-2, 61-24, and 56-28). He produced breaks of 92 and 54 in the third and fourth frames.
Results – Round of 64: Yasin Merchant (Mum) beat Asutosh Padhy (Odi) 4-1 (77-20, 69-47, 0-91(83), 65-40, 75-68); Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mum) beat Rishabh Kumar (Mum) 4-0 (62-39, 90-39, 104(91)-0, 83-12); Kreishh Gurbaxani (Mum) beat Rafat Habib (Rly) 4-1 (12-71, 103(103)-29, 71-13, 73-43, 84-12); Paras Gupta ( ) beat Aashit Pandiya (Mum) 4-2 (28-101(96*), 30-61(53), 72-21, 68-57, 78-40, 76-22); Nitesh Madan (Rly) beat Abhishek Bajaj (Mum) 4-0 (80-32, 105-21, 70-56, 57-45); Shahbaz Khan (Mum) beat Amanullah Shaikh (AP) 4-3 (65-15, 103(52)-0, 19-67, 40-71, 34-59, 81-13, 70-51); Jaison Malhotra ( ) beat Faisal Khan (Rly) 4-1 (29-77, 65-43, 92(92)-2, 61(54)-24, 56-28); Taha Khan ( ) beat Jai Shroff ( ) 57-23, 59-35, 69-16, 104(72)-8).