Chintamani Jadhav was down 0-2 before he struck a purple patch to outwit fancied Udit Rai 3-2 to enter the main draw of the “The Yasin Merchant Snooker Challenge-2022”, held in memory of their former umpteem times national snooker champion Shyam Shroff, at Khar Gymkhana here today. In fact, the turning point of the match came in the fourth frame when Udit came closer to clinching victory but it was not to be as Chintamani pipped him at 65-64 and then went on to win the tie 32-63, 40-63, 77-30, 65-64, 53-23.
Shubham Randhe,who had to fight back twice in a row to clinch a place in the main draw. He first beat Karan Makwana 32-51, 61-33, 65-35, 12-51, 69-24 and followed it by surprising higher ranked Viren Sharma 43-7, 1-75, 51-37, 14-80, 64-25 . Seeded directly into fourth round, Saad Sayyed overcame Harmehr Mago’s spirited challenge in a thrilling encounter before he was through with a 51-39, 19-58, 67-12, 17-58, 71-66 for a spot in the main draw.Another seasoned campaigner Mohsin Achhava, who got the better of Khar Gymkhana youngster Sagar Kanjani 3-1 (51-65, 65-38, 52-37, 57-17).
Results : (FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND): Saad Sayyed bt Harmehr Magho 3-2 (51-39, 19-58, 67-12, 17-58, 71-66); Chintamani Jadhav bt Udit Rai 3-2 (32-63, 40-63, 77-30, 65-64, 53-23); Shubham Randhe bt Viren Sharma 3-2 (43-7, 1-75, 51-37, 14-80, 64-25); Rohan Kothare bt Manoj Kasare 3-2 ( 18-64, 81-28, 67-26, 22-58, 77-9); Vilas Upsham bt Ameya Sankhia 3-2 (54-4, 70-52, 19-52, 24-64, 76-30); Sumit Ahuja bt Sanket Mutha 3-2 (21-57, 61-59, 74-9, 434-52, 75-32); Vishal Vaya bt Chetan Rajarwal 3-1 (92 [B58]-11, 91-10, 42-71, 87-8); ); Mohsin Achhava bt Sagar Kanjani 3-1 (51-65, 65-38, 52-37, 57-17); Taha Khan bt Sukhil Venkatramani 3-1 (33-52, 66-21, 61-16, 78-23); Abhishek Bajaj bt Aashit Pandya 3-1 (69-36, 75-27, 14-72, 88-24); Shayaan Razmi bt Yash Babni 3-0 (67-15, 48-16, 87-7); Maaz Chakkiwala bt Dipesh Jain 3-1 (67-14, 70-29, 42-62, 60-33); Vishal Gehani bt Tathya Sachdev 3-0 (76-44, 69-45, 73-5).
CLOCK FOR TODAY – SNOOKER – 11 a.m. onwards – Main draw; Yasin Merchant Challenge 2022; Khar Gymkhana.