Madhya Pradesh contender Imran Khan stole the thunder compiling a brilliant 112 points effort during his come-from-behind 4-2 win against Shoaib Pathan in a second qualifying round best-of-7-frame match 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, late Saturday evening.
Imran’s superb break is the third, after Rrahul Sachdev (101) and Rovin D’Souza (100) had produced three-figure runs in the initial phase of the competition. All three are assured of a cash prize of Rs 1,500 each which would be presented to the players for every century break recorded.
Mohd. Hussain and Vijay Nichani, both also came close to constructing another century break but they fell short by a mere four points. Hussai made a break of 96 in the fourth frame as he charged past Sanjay Gamre 4-0 (65-1, 70-8, 62-5, and 125-8). Nichani was on a roll and after compiling a run of 55 in the first frame he rolled in a break of 96 in the second and went on to defeat Porus Shah 4-1 (110(55)-22, 97(96)-16, 76-67, 33-92, and 63-43).
Veteran Railway cueist Rafat Habib showed that he still has the competitive spark and continued to chug along as he cruised past Parth Shah 4-2 (64-26, 61-25, 57-69, 0-67, 75-29, and 70-11) to qualify for the tournament proper.
Mumbai’s seasoned cueist Mahesh Jagdale was also in good form and struck a 74-point break in the first frame and went on to tame Sanjay Singh racing to 4-0 (75-9, 53-42, 71-31, and 49-19) victory to advance to the main draw. Rrahul Sachdev also from Mumbai continued with his fine run of form and came up with a 76 break in the sixth frame as he brushed aside the challenge from Jenit Ramaiya posting a 4-2 (22-55, 70-49, 79-29, 57-64, 51-9, and 119-21) victory to join Jagdale in the main draw.
Ashit Pandiya also progressed to the main round as he overcame a determined Kanishk Jhanjaria 4-2 (57-48, 64-15, 0-81, 62-53, 68-75, and 80-28) in a closely fought frames, while Nitesh Madan easily defeated Shehzad Hussain 4-0 (72-23, 65-31, 83-9, and 51-30) to book a place in the second phase of the tournament.
Earlier, Khan started on a hesitant note and dropped the opening two frames to Pathan, who grabbed the initiative. But, Khan did well to get into his groove and after having found his rhythm he gradually took the match away from Pathan, who started to lose his grip on the match. Khan leveled the frame scores at 2-all and then touched peak form as he tactically rolled in the magnificent break in the fifth frame before closing out the contest with another good run in the sixth to complete a 39-73, 30-72, 60-51, 86-44, 112-1, and 61-19 win.
Results –
Round-1: Anmoldeep Singh beat Anuj Soni 3-1 (58-17, 33-63, 67-31, 57-14); Asutosh Padhy beat Shakir Qureshi 3-1 (44-55, 55-51, 66-20, 56-1); Rafat Habib beat Harsh Maru 3-0 (85(50)-1, 75-1, 49-3); Mohd. Hussain beat Avinash Gaikwad 3-0 (51-10, 67-58, 67(60)-9);
Round-2: Ashit Pandiya beat Kanishk Jhanjaria 4-2 (57-48, 64-15, 0-81(61), 62-53, 68-75, 80-28);Jaison Malhotra beat Pranjal Shukla 4-0 (72-45, 72-12, 78-11, 68-60); Anmoldeep Singh beat Nikhil Bhansali 4-0 (56-17, 83-19, 65-37, 48-24); Mahesh Jagdale beat Sanjay Singh 4-0 (75(74)-9, 53-42, 71-31, 49-19); Imran Khan beat Shoaib Pathan 4-2 (39-73, 30-72, 60-51, 86-44, 112(112)-1, 61-19); Mohd. Hussain beat Sanjay Gamre 4-0 (65-1, 70-8, 62-5, 125(96)-8); Nitesh Madan beat Shehzad Hussain 4-0 (72-23, 65-31, 83-9, 51-30); Rrahul Sachdev beat Jenit Ramaiya 4-2 (22-55, 70-49, 79-29, 57-64, 51-9, 119(76)-21); Asutosh Padhy beat Chetan Chabbra 4-0 (119-8, 69-18, 70-8, 71-25); Vijay Nichani beat Porus Shah 4-1 (110(55)-22, 97(96)-16, 76-67, 33-92, 63-43); Rafat Habib beat Parth Shah 4-2 (64-26, 61-25, 57-69, 0-67, 75-29, 70-11).