Bringing his vast experience to the fore, seasoned pro Siddharth Parikh made light of his stiff handicap of -240 by winning both his frames. Parikh’s superb efforts enabled Potters to record a come from behind 3-2 win against Siddhant Strikers in the best-of-five-frames (100 up format) first round match on the opening day of BSAM (Billiards & Snooker Association of Maharashtra) organized Rs 10 lakh prize-money 2nd Videocon-Billiards Premier League (BPL) 2015, and played at the NSCI Billiards Hall on Wednesday night. The BPL 2015 is being ‘Powered by Videocon’ and hosted by Bombay Gymkhana.
Siddharth Parekh
After Potters lost the first two frames, Parikh showed his class with a clinical performance to score a decisive win against Rajwardhan Joshi (-30) in the third frame and turn things around. Later, Hitesh Kotwani (-130), who had lost the first frame to Arun Agrawal (-190) reversed things when he beat Agrawal in the fourth frame by a close 230-225 margin and level the scores at 2-all.
In the fifth and deciding frame, Parikh produced another calculated performance to defeat Asutosh Padhy (-90) by a comfortable 340-115 margin and seal the match for his team.
Earlier, the Strikers doubles pairing of Padhy and Aditya Agrawal (-130) defeated Sunil Jain and Rohan Jambusaria (-70) 110-230 in the second frame and put the team in a strong position with a 2-0 lead.
In another match, Devendra Joshi compiled multiple half century breaks as SPG Billiardiers cruised to a 3-0 win against Ottomans. Joshi who came to the table for the third frame after his team had taken a 2-0 lead, played without any pressure. He dished out a good steady performance and compiled breaks of 78 and two more breaks of 50 to put it across V. Subramaniam (-150) by a 292-156 margin and complete the win.
Earlier, SPG’s doubles pair of Shekar Surve and Shivam Arora (-95) defeated Ottomans combine of Derek Sippy and Amit Sapru (-45) 197-116 in the first frame and set the tone for SPG’s triumph. In the second frame, the young Ishpreet Singh Chadha (-100) rose to the challenge against Dhruv Sitwala (-240) and managed to hold his nerves to come through at 200-287. After the recently crowned Asian Billiards champion Sitwala uncorked a 147 break Ishpreet replied with a neat 89 to canter to victory.
Meanwhile, RRockets also enjoyed a smooth outing as they strolled to an identical 3-0 win against Rajdhani Ke Aryans on an adjacent table. The RRockets double combonation of Rajeev Sharma and Satbir Narula (-55 handicap) overcame Rishabh Thakkar and Melwyn Mascarenhas in the first frame before Manav Panchal (-60) managed to defeat Nalin Patel (-210) 160-268 in the second. In the third frame, RRockets young talent Dhvaj Haria (-190) held his nerves to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat against Chandu Kansodaria (-90) in the third frame. Kansodaria was within two points of crossing the winning line, but he missed a relatively simple canon and let Haria on. The youngsters grabbed the opportunity and coolly rattled up the remaining 24 points that he required to clinch a 290-118 win and seal the match in RRockets favour.
Results – Round-I: SPG Billiardiers beat Ottomans 3-0 (Shekar Surve & Shivam Arora (-95) bt Derek Sippy & Amit Sapru (-45) 197-116; Ishpreet S. Chadha (-100) bt Dhruv Sitwala (-240) 200(89)-287(147); Devendra Joshi (-190) bt V. Subramanian (-150) 292(78,50,50)-156).
Adamo Potters beat Siddhant Strikers 3-2 (Hitesh Kotwani (-130) lost to Arun Agrawal (-190) 181-290; Sunil & Rohan (-70) lost to Asutosh & Aditya Agrawal (-130) 110-230; Siddharth Parikh (-240) bt Rajwardhan J (-30) 340-73; Kotwani bt Arun Agrawal 230-225(81); S. Parikh bt Asutosh Padhy (-90) 340-115).
RRockets beat Rajdhani Ke Aryans 3-0 (Raajeev Sharma & Satbir Narula (-55) bt Rishabh Thakkar & Melwyn Mascarenhas (-60) 155-120; Manav Pachal (-60) bt Nalin Patel (-210) 160-268(50). Dhvaj Haria (-190) bt Chandu Kansodaria (-90) 290-188).