Indian National champions Sourav Kothari (snooker) and Dhruv Sitwala (billiards) crashed out in the quarter-final round of the Khar Gymkhana presents CR Realty-Western India Billiards and Snooker Championships 2024, played at the Khar Gymkhana billiards hall late Friday evening.
S. Srikrishna got the better of reigning Asian billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala 694-610 in a Senior billiards quarter-final match.
Former National champ Kamal Chawla (Railways) potted steadily and charged past Kothari (ONGC) by a 5-3 (71-38, 53-65, 96-0, 70-9, 29-79, 55-17, 26-96, 96-40) frame scores in the Senior Snooker event.
The lanky MP cueist Chawla did well to construct breaks of 50, 84, and 54 in the second, third, and fourth frame before signing off with a super 77 effort to seal the win.
Later, S. Srikrishna started with a flourish rolling in a neatly constructed break of 248, which set the tone for his win against the left-handed Sitwala by a 694-610 point margin in the 150-minute billiards match. The Tamil Nadu cueist Srikrishna was leading by 400 points at the halfway stage before the three-time Asian billiards champ Sitwala fought back and with some steady efforts closed the gap, but it was a bit too late.
Earlier, in the snooker quarter-finals, Srikrishna won a tense deciding frame to edge out Laxman Rawat (IOCL) by a fighting 5-4 (15-65, 40-59, 64-62, 78-22, 87-29, 72-58, 19-68, 59-22, and 69-31) victory.
Pankaj Advani (ONGC), India’s most decorated cueist, had things his way in winning both his snooker and billiards quarter-final matches. In the snooker event, the Bengaluru maestro blanked Delhi’s Anuj Uppal 5-0 (50-1, 78-18, 73-24, 109-5, and 91-15). The ace cueist Advani’s best efforts were 49, 49, and 90 in the last three frames.
Later, Advani returned to the table and produced another impressive performance to send Mumbai challenger Rayaan Razmi packing out. Advani fired breaks of 290, 133, and 108 and won the contest comfortably. Rayaan had one decent effort of 198.
Results: Senior snooker – quarter-finals: Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Sourav Kothari (ONGC) 5-3 (71-38, 53(50)-65, 96(84)-0, 70(54)-9, 29-79, 55-17, 26-96, 96(77)-40); S. Srikrishna (BPCL) bt Laxman Rawat (IOCL) 5-4 ((15-65, 40-59, 64-62, 78-22, 87(71)-29, 72-58, 19-68, 59-22, 69-31); Faisal Khan (RSPB) bt Shoaib Khan (Del) 5-3 (80-25, 60-6, 12-70, 37-81, 55-64, 67-27, 70(65)-9, 79-31); Pankaj Advani (ONGC) bt Anuj Uppal (Del) (50-1, 78-18, 73(49)-24, 109(49)-5, 91(90)-15).
Senior billiards – quarter-finals: S. Shrikrishna (BPCL) bt Dhruv Sitwala (ONGC) 694(248,96,92,89,78,74)-610(156,103,97,96,86); Dhvaj Haria (IOCL) bt Sumer Mago (Mum) 558(78,75)-357(92); Pankaj Advani (ONGC) bt Rayaan Razmi (Mum) 898(290, 133, 108)-449(198); Shahyan Razmi (Mum) bt Rishabh Thakkar (Mum) 435(75)-406(55,556,113);