Nitesh Bhatia and Vijay Lilwa, both registered hard-fought victories in their respective first round matches of the Matunga Gymkhana organized Rs 1.8 lakh 6-Red Open Snooker Tournament, under the auspices of BSAM, and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall on Friday. The tournament is being supported by Pidilite Industries Ltd, Nagee Cues and Himatlal Doshi.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Bhatia lost the opening frame to Aryan Parulekar, but bounced back and won the crucial deciding fifth frames to clinch a 3-2 (11-51, 35-24, 53-24, 17-51, and 41-31) win. Lilwa also started on a dismal note against Arvind Jadhav and tamely lost the first frame. The early loss was the perfect wake-up call as Lilwa pocketed the next two to take a 2-1 lead before Jadhav won the fourth to level the score. Lilwa held his nerves and won the fifth to snatch a 3-2 (1-42, 37-25, 40-28, 16-39, and 39-20) frame score win.
In one-sided encounters, Swastik Thakur prevailed over Bakirao Pacharne 3-0 (32-30, 47-16, and 41-26) and Dipesh Jain bt Suraj Karande 3-0 (25-15, 53-7, 39-19
Results: Dipesh Jain bt Suraj Karande 3-0 (25-15, 53-7, 39-19; Mohit Khatri bt Prakash Hate 3-1 (20-40, 47-8, 39-9, 31-11); Parth Salot bt Surendra Vadke 3-0 (36-8, 45-5, 28-2); Raj Chhari bt Pratik Verma 3-1 (31-1, 6-24, 39-10, 35-25); Nitesh Bhatia bt Aryan Parulekar 3-2 (11-51, 35-24, 53-24, 17-51, 41-31); Nilesh Sangar bt Anil Sahani 3-1 (32-39, 31-29, 33-9, 37-12); Vijay Lilwa bt Arvind Jadhav 3-2 (1-42, 37-25, 40-28, 16-39, 39-20); Swastik Thakur bt Bakirao Pacharne 3-0 (32-30, 47-16, 41-26).