A tenacious Hitesh Kotwani survived from the brink of defeat as he staged a gallant fight back to crash the aspiration of Nikhil Ghadge by snatching a 4-3 win in the best-of-7-frame round of 16 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 late Saturday evening. The tournament is being supported by Pidilite Industries Ltd, Nagee Cues and Himatlal Doshi.
Rajeev Sharma defeated Simranjeet Singh 4-2 (11-47, 30-5, 46-0, 24-49, 34-7 and 37-13) in a round of 16 match
Ghadge quickly took-off the blocks and stunned Kotwani by racing to a commanding 3-0 lead. Starring defeat in the face seemed to be a perfect wake up call for Kotwani who in remarkable fashion bounced back. He comfortably won the fourth as Ghadge failed to log a single point and thereafter there was no looking back for Kotwani won went on to pocket the next three frames to close out the contested with the frame scores reading 29-36, 13-50, 15-43, 38-0, 42-14, 36-28 and 44-19.
Seasoned cueist Rajeev Sharma dished out a calculated performance and shut the door on a spirited Simranjeet Singh marching to a 4-2 (11-47, 30-5, 46-0, 24-49, 34-7 and 37-13) victory to advance to the quarter-finals.
Sumit Saldurkar produced the best effort compiling a break of 42 in the third frame during his win against Darshan Shah by a 4-1 (29-19, 43-6, 65-4, 19-32 and 42-24) frame score.
Results – Round 16: Hitesh Kotwani bt Nikhil Ghadge 4-3 (29-36, 13-50, 15-43, 38-0, 42-14, 36-28, 44-19); Umesh Barwe bt Dipesh Jain 4-2 (24-14, 48-21, 24-36, 43-18, 8-39, 48-15); Sumit Saldurkar bt Darshan Shah 4-1 (29-19, 43-6, 65(42)-4, 19-32, 42-24); Ajinkya Yelve bt Prabdeep Singh 4-2 (33-12, 28-35, 45-16, 14-41, 48-0, 35-22); Aakash Ramteke bt Poras Shah 4-1 (25-42, 34-2, 40-27, 37-20, 69-13); Rajeev Sharma bt Simranjeet Singh 4-2 (11-47, 30-5, 46-0, 24-49, 34-7, 37-13); Jigar Shah bt Vivek Narayan 4-2 (46-9, 16-32, 33-10, 16-39, 36-29, 39-20); Vinay Swaminathan bt Rushabh Jain 4-2 (37-12, 55-18, 50-5, 14-39, 18-33, 34-27).