Nitin Banka managed to win a nerve-wracking deciding fifth frame (15-red singles) against Ronak Dedhia to help MHCL ‘Madcaps’ come from behind to snatch a tight 3-2 win against NSCI ‘Riders’ in a pre-quarter-final match of the Z3 Zodiac Clothing & Otters Club sponsored Otters-BSAM Mumbai Snooker League 2018 at Otters Club, Billiards Room.
Captain Nitin Banka won a tense deciding fifth frame to help MHCL ‘Madcaps’ snatch a close 3-2 win against NSCI ‘Riders’ in a pre-quarter-final match
In another last 16 round encounter played on an adjacent table, Khar Gymkhana’s team KG ‘A’ comprising of heavyweights, including skipper Yasin Merchant, Ishpreet Singh Chadha, Faisal Khan and talented youngsters Sparsh Pherwani and Nikhil Saigal proved too strong for North Indian Association’s NIA ‘Cut Miss Hook’ and quickly breezed to a 3-0 win.
Meanwhile, in a match of fluctuating fortunes, NSCI after losing the opening 15-red doubles frame bounced back to pocket the next two (15-red singles) frame and take 2-1 lead. But, the experienced Rajeev Sharma with some steady play ensured that the Malabar Hill Club (MHCL) team stay in the fight when he won the fourth frame against NSCI’s captain Karan Chug, to whom he had earlier lost the second frame, and take the match to the wire.
In the decider, Banka (+50 handicap) and Ronak Dedhia (+45) were both edgy and tentative with their shots and the scores ran close. Banka did well to cash in on every opportunity to compile tiny breaks, which saw him lead throughout and eventually went on clinch the frame, but not before going through some anxious moments towards the end. Dedhia who trailed 74-88, required to pocket the last three colours remaining on the table and he managed to pot the blue, but missed a relatively easy pink. Banka heaved a huge sigh of relief before gathering his wits and then sank the pink in the bottom pocket to win the frame 94-79 and seal victory for the Malabar Hill Club.
Earlier, MHCL Madcaps doubles pair of Banka and Anshuman Loyalka (+33) tamed Kunal Kapoor and Ronak Dedhia (+29) 81-63 in the opening frame. In the second, NSCI’s Karan Chug (+45) with a smoothly constructed break of 47 defeated Rajeev Sharma (+40) 109-63 before Meet Mirchandani (+60) got the better of Adil Engineer (+60) 100-122 in the third frame. Later, Sharma with a steady performance and with small runs of 26 and 21 prevailed over Chug by a 115-70 scoreline to level the match scores at 2-all.
Results (pre-quarter-finals): KG ‘A’ beat NIA ‘Cut Miss Hook’ 3-0 (Ishpreet Singh Chadha (scratch handicap) bt Harana (+45 handicap) 96-45, Faisal Khan (scratch) bt Hardik Vyas (+50) 82-75, Nikhil Saigal/Sparsh Pherwani (+12) bt Manjeet Singh/Rajan Gupta (+20) 77-35).
MHCL ‘Madcaps’ beat NSCI ‘Riders’ 3-2 (Nitin Banka/Anshuman Loyalka (+33) bt Kunal Kapoor/Ronak Dedhia (+29) 81-63, Rajeev Sharma (+40) lost Karan Chug (+45) 63-109(47), Adil Engineer (+60) lost Meet Mirchandani (+60) 100-122, Rajeev Sharma bt Karan Chugh 115-70, Nitin Banka (+50) bt Ronak Dedhia (+45) 94-79).