Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana’s (JVPG) Divesh Gangwani exhibited tremendous grit and determination as he bounced back in style to overcome Sanjiv Bijlani of Park Club by a 4-2 frame scores in the best-of-7-frame final of the BSAM Grassroot Snooker Challenge 2018, and played at the Garware Club House.
Divesh Gangwani of JVPG emerged champion defeating Sanjiv Bijlani of Park Club 4-2 in the final of the BSAM Grassroot Snooker Challenge 2018, at the Garware Club House.
Gangwani lost the first two frames and trailed 0-2, but he recovered well to win next four frames in succession to clinch a 26-76, 19-66, 63-19, 68-60, 64-14 and 60-17 victory and claim his maiden title.
“I am very excited to win today as this is my first big success. It’s the first time I have won a snooker title and it makes me proud,” a delighted Gangwani said after the win.
Having enjoyed a good journey in the competition, Gangwani was unable to settle down quickly and found going touch initially. Bijlani who showed his mettle with some brilliant wins in the earlier rounds, started positively and grabbed the first two frames to race to a 2-0 advantage.
That seemed to be the perfect wake up call for Gangwani and he responded strongly by craftily compiling a break of 40 to win the third frame and cut the deficit. Having gained in confidence Gangwani went onto snatch a tight fourth frames to level scores.
That win proved to be the turning point as there was no looking back for the JVPG cueist as thereafter he grabbed every opportunity to take control and with another break of 43 won the fifth to take a 3-2 lead and then also pocketed sixth to complete a satisfying win.
Results – (semi-finals): Divesh Gangwani (JVPG) beat Sanjiv Bijlani (Park Club)
Prizes: Winner (Rs 20,000): Divesh Gangwani (JVPG).
Runner-up (Rs 12,500): Sanjiv Bijlani (Park Club).
Losing semi-finalists (Rs 7500×2 ): Vishal Gehani (Park Club), Siddhesh Mulay (Chiplun).
Losing quarter-finalists (Rs 4000×4): Percy Patel (Matunga Gym), Omkar Gore (Chiplun), Joseph Menezes (Otters Club), Jagdish Khade (Thane).