MUMBAI: Dhiraj Solanki’s hard-hitting 80 featured in defending champions MCC (Red)’s 113-run win over Rizvi Sports Club in their concluding tie in the B4S (Brain-4-Sports)- MCC Pro-40 double leg League, played at Oval Maidan here today. With this win, MCC (Red) are are sure for a semi-final berth. Even today’s loser Rizvi, too, will qualify, having won all their earlier matches.

In the other tie, MCC (Blue)’s win 9-wicket over Bhosale C,A. ensured them a place in the last four. The last of the semifinal berth will be decided between Bhosale C.A. and Jwala Sports Foundation XI.

MCC (Red), batting first hit up 243 with Dhiraj hitting 11 fours and a six in his 80. Sujit Kanojia (41) and allrounder Jitendra Paliwal (33) too made substantial contributions. In reply, Rizvi outfit, for a change could not get going and were bowled out for 130.

Brief scores: MCC (Red) 243 all out (Dhiraj Solanki 80, Sujit Kanojia 41, Jitrendra Paliwal 33; Pratik Kadam 5/42, Shreyas Mandlik 2/41) bt Rizvi SC 130 all out (Ajit Yadav 34, Shubham Mistri 36; Abhishek Kanojia 4/30, Vedant Patil 3/30 ) by 113 runs.

Bhosale CA 149 all out (Aditya Padwal 34, Anuj Giri 30, Swikar Whatkar 24; Shantanu Kadam 2/8, Priyank Mhatre 2/24) lost to MCC (Blue) 151/1 (Chetan Shenvi n.o. 64, Yash Salunke 61) by 9 wkts.

Mumbai, February 16: Sundeep Gulati of Delhi and Maharashtra’s Rahul Sachdev were engaged in absorbing tussle for supremacy before the former managed to come through by a hard-earned 5-4 verdict in a long drawn best-of-nine frames second round match of the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2018, and played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones Billiards Room on Friday.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, both the cueist gave it their best shot as they tried to outsmart each other. The senior pro from Delhi got off to a solid start and with a half century effort of 52 went on to pocket the opening three frames to open up a 3-0 advantage. But the bearded Mumbai player came roaring back into contention by constructing small but useful breaks of 54 and 45 in winning the fourth and fifth frames comfortably before closely winning the sixth to level frame scores at 3-all.

Gulati once again found his touch and with modest runs managed to win the seventh to regain the lead before Sachdev with some steady play managed to restore parity at 4-4 and take the match to the decider. The ninth frame was a long affair before Gulati cashed in on an opening to win the crucial frame and complete a marathon 89(break52) -31, 51-33, 66-10, 10-58(54), 7-67(45), 59-64, 88-8,12-72 and 74-33 victory and advance to the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Manan Chandra of PSPB continued with his fine showing as he sent another Maharashtra cueist Ishpreet Singh Chadha packing out in the second round. The former National champion, Manan played steadily and potted quite consistently as compared to his opponent from Mumbai and romped to victory in just six frames, with the scores reading 82-1, 80-19, 66-54, 34-64, 75-42 and 68-64 in his favour.

Shahbaz Khan of Maharashtra ensured his passage to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 win against Manish Jain of West Bengal. Haryana’s Divya Sharma also moved in the last eight round defeating Shahbaz Adil Khan of PSPB 5-2 in another second round encounter,

Results (Pre-quarter-finals): Divya Sharma (Har) bt Shahbaz Adil Khan (PSPB) 5-2 (61-39,52-62,64-20,56-45,51-43,24-92(51), 59-1; Shahbaz Khan (Mah) bt Manish Jain (WB) 5-3 (106-10, 73-42,12-69,62-57,27-68,75-23,11-65,72-16); Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mah) 5-1 (82-1,80-19,66-54,34-64,75-42,68-64); Sundeep Gulati (Del) bt Rahul Sachdev (Mah) 5-4 (89(52)-31,51-33,66-10,10-58(54),7-67(45),59-64,88-8,12-72,74-33)

First Round: Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Sonic Multani (Guj) 4-2 (81 (51)-53, 84-12,62-63,44-84,63-40,73-28); Shahbaz Khan (Mah) bt Rajat Khaneja (Chd) 4-3 (15-90,64-36,38-62,50-1,48-61,65-53,58-55).

Mumbai, February 13: Mumbai-based cueists Siddharth Parikh and Aditya Agarwal in convincing fashion won their fourth qualifying round matches to advance to the main draw of the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2018.

The articulate Parikh of Indian Railways played tactically and with a break of 69 in the second managed to edge out Paras Gupta of Uttar Pradesh snatching a 4-0 win in the best-of-seven frame encounter at the CCI’s Wilson Jones Billiards Room on Tuesday. On the side table, Agarwal of Matunga Gymkhana was cool and composed and with the help of two substantial runs of 40 in the first frame and 43 in the fifth rode to 4-1 win over Delhi’s Jaison Malhotra.

Meanwhile, Rahul Sachdev of Cue Schooling, stole the thunder with a neatly crafted 125 break as he went on to tame Telangana’s B.L. Dheeraj winning in four frames, 3-1. After sharing the first two frames with his Telangana rival, the left-handed Sachdev got into cracking form in the third as he potted with superb accuracy to run up a brilliant break of 125. However, with only the last three colours remaining, he missed the blue and his effort fell short of the 130 qualifying mark for the highest break prize of Rs 25,000. He went on pocket the fourth to clinch the match with the frame scores reading at 68-20, 15-65, 125(125)-0 and 69-30.

The Railway player Parikh with some clever ploy and with a steady break of 69 in the second managed to outduel the UP cueist, winning three of the frames narrowly to steal a 67-65, 81-40, 64-60, 72-63 win.

Meanwhile, Agarwal started confidently with a break of 40 in winning the first frame and he pocketed the next two to take a 3-0 lead. Malhotra showed signs of fighting back as he made 42 in winning the fourth before Agarwal came roaring back to win the fifth to complete a 76-22, 49-21, 45-19, 44-72, 75-15 win.

Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh sent Laxman Rawat of PSPB crashing with a hard-earned come from behind 4-3 victory in another fourth round match. Rawat raced to a 2-0 lead but he was unable to carry on the winning run as Kumar went on to pocket the next three on the trot to forge ahead 3-2. The experienced Rawat managed to win the sixth to level scores at force the decider which Kumar won comfortably to clinch a 4-78, 34-83, 94-4, 58-48, 77-48, 2-71 and 54-26 victory and qualify for the main draw.

Results – Fourth round: Akshay Kumar (UP) bt Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 4-3 (4-78, 34-83(51), 94-4, 58-48, 77-48, 2-71, 54-26); Aditya Agarwal (Matunga Gym) bt Jaison Malhotra (Del) 4-1 (76(40)-22, 49-21, 45-19, 44-72(42), 75(43)-15); Siddharth Parikh (Rly) bt Paras Gupta (UP) 4-0 (67-65, 81(69)-40, 64-60, 72-63); Manish Jain (WB) vs E. Pandurangaiah (Rly) 4-2 (24-60, 110(68)-42, 73-51, 51-48, 14-67, 73-6).

Third round: Manav Panchal (Malabar Hill Club) bt Alexandrer Rego (Pune) 3-2 (57-13, 67-2, 41-62, 42-78, 72-35); Nabil Lakdawala (TLGN) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 3-2 (24-61, 17-53, 58-31, 61-55, 67-62); Johnson (Guj) bt Dharirya Bhandari (CS) 3-1 (77(66)-43(43), 75-32, 38-87, 51-3); E. Pandurangaiah (Rly) bt Nikhil Saigal (Khar Gym) 3-2 (70-21, 47-51, 80-24, 24-62, 63-16; Rahul Sachdev (Cue Schooling) bt B.L. Dheeraj (TLGN) 3-1 (68-20, 15-65, 125-0, 69-30); Mukund Bharadia (CCI) bt Piyush Kushwa (BSAA) 3-1 (54-63, 70-30, 96(43)-23, 53-38).

Mumbai: Union Bank of India ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win against HDFC Bank in a quarter-final match of the 111th RCF-Nadkarni Cup knockout football tournament, organized by RCF Sports Club under the aegis of MDFA, and played at the RCF Colony ground.

In a keenly contest match, Union Bank managed to wrest the advantage when their consistent and prolific scorer Scott D’Souza found the back of the net in the 32nd minute to take his team to the break with a slender 1-0 lead.

In the second period, HDFC Bank, winners of the recent MDFA- Republic Day ‘Late Nitu Mandke Trophy’, tried to find the equalizer, but their attacker were kept in check by some tight marking by the Union Bank defenders who were compact and solid at the back.

In Thursday’s second semi-final, Union Bank will run into Mumbai Strikers who got the better of Bank of India 4-2 via the penalty shootout tie-breaker after the match ended in a goalless draw.

On Wednesday, defending champions Air India will take on Indian Navy in the first semi-final.

Results – quarter-finals: Union Bank of India 1 (Scott D’Souza 32nd) beat HDFC Bank 0.

Mumbai Strikers 4 (Abhishek Bhagat, Abhijeet Shetty, Arslan Hamdulay, Jay Wadhwa) beat Bank of India 2 (Alvito Gomes, Aishwary Rhelekar) via the tie-breaker. Full-time: 0-0.

Kaushal Dharmamer and Shravani Panchal

NERUL (NAVI MUMBAI): Maharashtra No. 1 Kuashal Dharmamer and Shravani Panchal, both from Mumbai, won their respective men’s and women’s singles titles in contrasting fashion on the final day of the of the Maharashtra State Open badminton tournament, organized by Badminton Organisation of Raigad at DY Patil Stadium’s badminton courts last night.

Lefthander Kaushal routed his doubles partner Gaurav Rege 15-2,15-7 to claim his men’s singles. Later he paired with Gaurav to beat Malhar Tulpule and Ruturaj Deshpande (Raigad/Pune) 15-4, 15-10 in the men’s doubles final.

But for bespectacled Shravani Panchal, a Shrikant Vad-trained at Thane Badminton Academy , it was tough going all the way before she could beat back the stiff challenge from Thane’s Neha Gaonkar in three pulsuating games. Shravani triumphed 16-14, 7-15, 15-9.

Sharing the day’s honours with Kaushal and Shravani was fleet- footed Preeti Kumar, who figured in four finals – Women’s doubles, mixed doubles, women’s Plus 35 singles and doubles- , and emerged victorious in three of them.

Results of all the finals: Women’s singles: (2) Shravani Panchal (GMBA) bt Neha Gaonkar (TH) 16-14, 7-15, 15-9. Women’s Doubles: Bhakti Dahasahasra/Vaishnavi Iyer bt Preeti Kumar/Nisha Singh 15-7, 8-15, 15-1. Mixed doubles: Gaurav Rege/ Bhakti Dahasahasra bt Manish Kumar/Kiran Shetye 15-6, 15-9.

Men’s singles: (1) Kaushal Dharmamer (MS) bt (3) Gaurav Rege (MS) 15-2, 15-7. Men’s doubles: (1) Kaushal Dharmamer/Gaurav Rege (MS) bt Malhar Tulpule/Ruturaj Deshpande (Raigad/Pune) 15-4, 15-10.

Boys U-17 singles: Vaibhav Tewari (Raigad) bt Sushant Ravva (MS) 15-7, 15-11.

Girls U-17 singles : Aditi Tadas (Nagpur) bt Bhargavi Rambhad (Nagpur) 15-13, 15-7.

Boys U-15 singles: Saransh Gajbhiye (MS) bt Sailesh Singh (-) 15-10, 5-14, 17-15.

Girls U-15 singles : Aalisha Naik (MS) bt Madhumita Narayan (TH) 15-13, 15-12.

Girls U-13 singles: Aalisha Naik (MS) bt Siya Singh (MS) 8i-15, 15-13, 15-9.

Boys U-13 singles: Sharan Pillai (Raigad) bt Prakhar Jain (MS15-6, 15-9.

Girls U-11: Natasha Kaur (GMBA) bt Prakriti Sharma 15-6, 15-4.

Boys U-11: Parth Deore (Nashik) bt Soham Shinde (Satara) 15-7, 15-11.

Women’s (+35) singles: Preeti Kumar (Raigad) bt Arpita Jhaveri 11-15, 15-11, 15-8. (+35) Doubles: Preeti Kumar/Nisha Rani bt Neelam Chauhan/Purnima Deshmukh 15-12, 15-5. Mixed (+35) doubles:Preeti Kumar/Abhishek Patil bt Kiram Shetye/Kaushik Vartak 15-6, 15-9.

Ajinkya Yelve and Arun Agrawal, both took the easy routes to the third round by scoring emphatic 3-0 wins in their respective second round matches of the Matunga Gymkhana 9-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2017, which is sponsored and hosted by Matunga Gymkhana and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall.

Yelve (+24 handicap) had things under control and after compiling a break of 26 in the first frame went on to defeat M. Srinivas (+39 handicap with the scores reading at 74-47, 76-53 and 74-35.

The experienced Agrawal (+18 handicap) playing his first match after receiving a first round bye warmed up nicely for the tougher challenges ahead by prevailing over Dhaval Kenia in three straight frames. Agrawal did not have to hit the big shots, but with just some steady potting managed to record a 67-56, 80-48 and 67-56 win.

Meanwhile, Ranjeet (+35 handcap) and Amit Jadhav (+29 handicap) were locked in a grim battle for supremacy before the former managed to scrape through by a 3-2 margin. Ranjeet started well by winning the opening frame, but Jadhav fought back by winning the next two to take a 2-1 lead. Ranjeet replied back strongly and went on to pocket the remaining two frames to close out a hard-earned 69-55, 51-77, 60-71, 68-29 and 76-30 vcitory.

In a contest between two players with low handicaps, Sunil Jain (+14 handicap) recovered from the loss of the first game to score a 3-1 win against Kartikey Sharma (+18 handicpa) with the scores at 40-54, 59-46, 58-51, 61-40.

Results – (round 2): Arun Agrawal (+18) bt Dhaval Kenia (+35) 3-0 (67-56, 80-48, 67-56); Rushabh Gohil (+32) bt Prakash Karande (+35) 3-1 (64-77, 75-59, 79-39, 86-58); Kaustubh Pathak (+39) bt Shubham Randhe (+35) 3-1 (81-61, 48-79(29), 100-88, 91(36)-43); Ajinkya Yelve (+24) bt M. Srinivas (+39) 3-0 (74(26)-47, 76-53, 74-35); Swaroop Pillai (+35) bt Dhiraj Kamble (+39) 3-0 (82-64, 84-46, 77-41); C.S. Puranik (+35) bt Jayesh Patel (+39) 3-1 (72-42, 94-69, 51-65, 88-51); Sunil Jain (+14) bt Kartikey Sharma (+18) 3-1 (40-54, 59-46, 58-51, 61-40); Ranjeet (+35) bt Amit Jadhav (+29) 3-2 (69-55, 51-77(25), 60-71, 68-29, 76-30).

Caption of photos attached: Arun Agrawal in action at the Matunga Gymkhana 9-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2017.

Top swimmers including some ​national and s​tate champions will be seen in action in the 32nd otters two-day open swimming and diving championships, to  be held at their swimming pool at Bandra (west)  on Saturday (April 15)  and Sunday (April 16). the gala, which is open to men, women,​boys and girls, in various age groups, holds special place in otter clubs  sports calendar as it has   produced number of top class swimmers ​ and national level gold medallists​, who have brought laurels to the state at the national level over the years.

The swim gala will be followed by their annual open  summer  ​swim ​camp ( both for members as well  as non-members)  in various age  groups  from April 17 to may 30.  the camp  will  be conducted in 12 batches for the beginners and advance swimmers.  The enroll​ment  forms will be available from march 20​th  from the club’s office​ and the admission will be on first-come-first-serve  basis.