Four young talented cueists from the city – Kreishh Gurbaxani, Rayaan Razmi, Sparsh Pherwani and Ishpreet Singh Chadha, kept the Mumbai flag flying high as they all recorded stunning victories to advance to the quarter-finals of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised ‘Baulkline’ NSCI Rs 13 lakh prize-money All India Snooker Open 2023, at the NSCI billiards hall.
Gurbaxani, was cool and composed and played confidently as he staged a remarkable late fight winning the last three frames to sent National snooker champion Kamal Chawla of Railway crashing out, by clinching a commendable 5-4 (78-19, 8-129(52,65), 70-22, 8-126(126), 43-65, 8-88(66), 64-48, 66-48, 61-58) victory.
On a side table, Razmi was in sparkling form and confidently produced three century breaks during his dazzling 5-1 (60-30, 137-0, 101-0, 23-76, 87-0, 113-0) win against Devendra Joshi (PSPB) in another round of 16 match.
Indian No. 2 Pherwani with solid potting outclassed Paras Gupta racing to a 5-1 (98-23, 76-39, 65-18, 58-70, 80-24, and 67-57) while Indian No. 3 Chadha got the better of city mate Rrahul Sachdev 5-2 (94-0, 74-44, 0-94, 57-65, 59-50, 71-25, 70-0) win.
Results – Round of 16:
Kreishh Gurbaxani (Mum) beat Kamal Chawla (Rlys) 5-4 (78-19, 8-129(52,65), 70-22, 8-126(126), 43-65, 8-88(66), 64-48, 66-48, 61-58); Sparsh Pherwani (Mum) beat Paras Gupta 5-1 (98-23, 76-39, 65-18, 58(58)-70(65), 80(54)-24, 67-57); Rayaan Razmi (Mum) bt Devender Joshi (PSPB) 5-1 (60-30, 137(121*)-0, 101(101*)-0, 23-76(70), 87(65)-0, 113(109)-0); Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mum) bt Rrahul Sachdev (Mum) 5-2 (94-0, 74-44, 0-94(94), 57(57)-65, 59-50, 71(69)-25, 70(69)-0); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Piyush K 5-2 (95(95)-21, 67-39, 73-41, 11-60, 85(69)-39, 1-88(60), 88(82)-0).