Mumbai cueist Abhishek Bajaj was on a high and rolled in the top break, an unfinished 83 points effort during his twin wins, in round one and two, of the Rs 12.9 lakhs prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2019, organised by the Cricket Club of India at the club’s Sir Wilson Jones Billiards Room.
Abhishek Bajaj
The Bombay Gymkhana player Abhishek was in complete control and easily defeated Sharad Kumar of Delhi 3-1 in a first round match. Abhishek and Sharad shared the first two frames before the former hit top form and comfortably won the third to regain the lead. He then stamped his class by neatly constructing the massive effort to close out the contest, winning at 69-37, 15-60, 66-7 and 83-0. Bajaj’s 83 break in currently he highest in the tournament surpassing Vishal Vaya’s 76 effort on Thursday.
Later, Abhishek was fortunate to survive the drop as he escaped by the skin of his teeth and managed to overcome Mumbai’s 13-year-old youngster Shahyan Razmi 3-2 in a tense and nail-biting second round encounter.
Bajaj started on a promising note and with tidy efforts took the first frame, but he found the going tough as the Elphinstone Cricket Club cueist Shahyan, who was cool and composed as always hit a break of 35 to take the second to level scores. Bajaj and Shahyan traded the next two frames to take the match to the fifth frame.
In the decider, Shahyan compiled a 43 run to establish a 47-23 lead. But, thereafter he was unable to build on the lead and let the frame slip out his hands. He blew away the chances that came his way as he missed regulation pots which cost him dear. The senior Bajaj cashed in on the let-offs to gradually accumulate the points which saw him cross the finish line to clinch a satisfying 74-18, 30-85(35), 59-43, 10-52 and 67-51win to book a place in the third round.
Shahyan’s elder brother Rayaan also fell by the wayside going down rather tamely to Nashik’s Pankaj Khatri losing in three straight frames in another second round match. Pankaj potted confidently and charged to a 61-39, 62-55 and 59-54 win.
Meanwhile, Siddhart Tembe of Pune demonstrated strong willpower and fighting spirit as he recovered after losing the first two frame to put it across Rohan Shah winning 3-2 (11-58, 39-62, 63-30, 62-32, 62-31).
Hitesh Kotwani of Hindu Gymkhana and Sidraj Shah of Cricket Club of India won their respective second round matches in contrating fashion. Hitesh with the help of two useful breaks of 43 (1st frame) and 35 (2nd frame) blanked Sourabh Ayyagari of Pune 3-0 (62-15, 73-11, 75-35), while Sidraj beat back the strong fight from Samar Khandelwal also from Pune before coasting to a 3-2 (49-61, 68-41, 16-77(53), 59-29 and 59-22) win.
Results – First round: Avinash Kumar (Delhi) beat Chetan Chabbria (Park Club) 3-0 (71-15, 60-11, 69-62);
R. Santosh Kumar (Karnataka) beat Vaibhav Pandey (Delhi) 3-1 (42-56, 67-7, 83(57)-7, 67-22);
Nitesh Madan (Bombay Gym) beat Mukesh Chawla (Goregaon SC) 3-0 (95(45)-1, 77-8, 89(50)-24);
Abhishek Bajaj (Bom Gym) beat Sharad Kumar (Delhi) 3-1 (69-37, 15-60, 66-7, 83(83)-0);
Second round: Hitesh Kotwani (Hindu Gym) beat Sourabh Ayyagari (Pune) 3-0 (62(43)-15, 73(35)-11, 75-35);
Siddhart Tembe (Pune) beat Rohan Shah 3-2 (11-58, 39-62, 63-30, 62-32, 62-31);
Mohsin Achhava (Gujarat) beat Anurag Bagri (Mumbai) 3-2 (67-29, 52-49, 54-61, 52-63, 54-20);
Sumit Saldurkar (KVSC) beat Prashant C. (Vasai) 3-1 (70-28, 46-36, 49-74, 47-36);
Jaison Malhotra (Delhi) beat Omkar Gore (Chiplun) 3-2 (29-59, 19-54, 44-58, 63-17, 64-17);
Kaniskh Janjaria (CCI) beat Alex Rego (Pune) 3-2 (31-59, 67-69, 62-20, 72-22, 39-1);
Abhishek Bajaj (Bom Gym) beat Shahyan Razmi (ECC) 3-2 (74-18, 30-85(35), 59-43, 10-52, 67-51(43));
Pankaj Khatri (Nashik) beat Rayaan Razmi (ECC) 3-0 (61-39, 62-55, 59-54);
Anas Ali (Surat) beat Sumair Singapuri (NSCI) 3-1 (55-11, 68-34, 60-62, 71-37);
Loukic Pathare (Railways) beat Altamash Saifi (Pune) 3-2 (17-74, 64-36, 56-46, 45-58, 91-0);
Rovin D’Souza (Hindu Gym) beat Shubhojit Roy (NSCI) 3-2 (36-72, 49-61, 63-27, 69-30, 47-29);
Mayank Bhavsar (KVSC) beat Raajeev Sharma (MHC) 3-1 (63-22, 34-59, 61-28, 63-28);
Maaz Chakkiwala (Surat) beat Kartikeye Sharma (Vashi) 3-2 (32-54, 70-62, 24-58, 62-20, 59-29);
Sidraj Shah (CCI) beat Samar Khandelwal (Pune) 3-2 (49-61, 68-41, 16-77(53), 59-29, 59-22).