Umesh Barve survived a scare from young Samay Wadhwan, but managed to hold his nerves to win a tense deciding frame to snatch a fighting 4-3 (38-1, 47-13, 49-20, 27-36, 4-41, 16-32 and 40-27) in a topsy-turvy best-of-7-frame round of 32 match of the Matunga Gymkhana organized Rs 1.8 lakh 6-Red Open Snooker Tournament, conducted under the auspices of BSAM, and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall on Friday. The tournament is being supported by Pidilite Industries Ltd, Nagee Cues and Himatlal Doshi.
The senior of the two cueists, Barwe, started in rousing fashion by winning the opening three frames to seize a 3-0 lead. But, Wadhwan not prepared to give up won the next three frames to level the frame scores and push the contest to the wire. However, Wadhwan was unable to maintain the momentum and lost the decider and the match.
In another match that went the distance, Ajinkya Yelve and Pratik Thakker were also engaged in a grim tussle for supremacy. But, Yelve came up with a solid performance and with small useful breaks won the in the seventh frame to clinch a satisfying 4-3 (47-49, 18-30, 39-26, 45-7, 36-29, 36-42 and 37-0) victory.
Meanwhile, Aakash Ramteke and Sumit Saldurkar enjoyed a good roll of the balls and comfortably won their respective round of 32 matches. Ramteke potted steadily to hand Mohammad Dhokadia a 4-0 (31-25, 35-26, 33-12 and 49-21) defeat. Saldurkar played confidently a cashed in on the chances to blanke Alpesh Dedhia 4-0 (40-3, 31-23, 68-8 and 44-4).
Poras Shah also had a fight on hands before he managed to get the better of Shakir Qureshi pulling off a 4-3 (37-5, 32-20, 8-34, 16-29, 25-55, 46-0 and 47-14) victory to advance to the
Pre-quarter-finals: Hitesh Kotwani bt Tathya Sachdev 4-1 (37-8, 31-45, 40-29, 49-5, 34-19); Nikhil Ghadge bt Rahil Patel 4-1 (58-13, 45-1, 34-16, 16-36, 60-23); Dipesh Jain bt Vishal Gehani 4-2 (16-28, 34-16, 21-33, 39-32, 42-16, 39(31)-0); Umesh Barwe bt Samay Wadhwan 4-3 (38-1, 47-13, 49-20, 27-36, 4-41, 16-32, 40-27); Sumit Saldurkar bt Alpesh Dedhia 4-0 (40-3, 31-23, 68-8, 44-4); Ajinkya Yelve bt Pratik Thakker 4-3 (47-49, 18-30, 39-26, 45-7, 36-29, 36-42, 37-0); Aakash Ramteke bt Mohammad Dhokadia 4-0 (31-25, 35-26, 33-12, 49-21); Poras Shah bt Shakir Qureshi 4-3 (37-5, 32-20, 8-34, 16-29, 25-55, 46-0, 47-14); Rajeev Sharma bt Neville Razmi 4-1 (34-14, 36-15, 33-16, 29-32, 43-30); Simranjeet Singh bt Mahadev Bhogle 4-2 (28-20, 14-41, 42-33, 14-40, 52-40, 35-10).