Indian No. 1 Kamal Chawla of Railways staved off a spirited challenge from Jaison Malhotra of Delhi and managed to carve out a satisfying 4-2 (89-60, 14-79, 71-10, 81-23, 46-73, and 74-41) victory in a round of 16 match of the Cricket Club of India organized Rs 12.1 lakh prize-money CCI Snooker Classic 2023, and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall on Wednesday.
Indian No. 1 Kamal Chawla of Railways defeated Jaison Malhotra of Delhi 4-2 in a best-of-seven-frame round of 16 match of the CCI Snooker Classic 2023, at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall on Wednesday
The National snooker champion Chawla mentioned that he is satisfied with his performance. “I am playing quite well and managing to keep the balls under control. I am also fully focused, but unable to convert the starts into substantial breaks. I missed out on some easy pots and also left him [Jaison Malhotra] on. He was also playing very well and striking the ball perfectly and it’s satisfying to pull through,” Chawla said.
National snooker runner-up and India No. 2 Sparsh Pherwani of Maharashtra was also not at his best, but did well to capitalize on the opportunities to build small but useful breaks which helped to overcome statemate and Maharashtra No. 1 Hasan Badami 4-2 (28-63, 65-31, 56-12, 42-55, 61-17, and 72-23) to book his place in the quarter-finals.
In other pre-quarter-final matches, upcoming youngsters, National junior snooker champion Digvijay Kadian of Haryana and Maharashtra’s Sumer Mago made their exit losing to more accomplished cueists Puspender Singh (Railways) and Sourav Kothari (PSPB) respectively.
Pushpender defeated Digvijay 4-2 (39-83, 74-12, 32-89, 69-28, 83-33, and 82-26) while the determined Bengal cueist Kothari banked on his huge experience and produced timely break of 54 in the first and 96 in the third to blank Mago cruising to a quick 4-0 (74-47, 85-23, 113-12, and 57-39) victory.
Results –
Round of 32: Sumerh Mago bt Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-3 (5-124(124), 63-47, 10-98(98), 54-28, 63-41, 8-68, 56-22); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Amee Kamani (MP) 4-0 (68-29, 60-30, 69-40, 123-32); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Shoaib Khan (Del) 4-0 (78-38, 70-15, 76(76)-31, 59-50); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Monu Choudhary ( ) 4-3 (85(58)-54, 64-37, 18-57, 67-12, 19-69, 22-64, 63-4); Stephen Lee (UK) bt Ayush Mittal ( ) 4-1 (42-57, 72(72)-50, 81-35, 70-52, 81-43); Laxman Rawat (PSPB) bt Rrahul Sachdev (Mah) 4-3 (22-65, 79-6, 68-9, 19-72, 66-29, 0-100, 60-20).
Results – Round of 16: Pushpender Singh (Rlys) bt Digvijay Kadian (Har) 4-2 (39-83, 74(74)-12, 32-89(55), 69-28, 83-33, 82-26); Sparsh Pherwani (Mah) bt Hasan Badami (Mah) 4-2 (28-63, 65-31, 56-12, 42-55, 61-17, 72-23); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Sumer Mago (Mah) 4-0 (74(54)-47, 85-23, 113(96)-12, 57-39); Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Jaison Malhotra (Del) 4-2 (89-60, 14-79, 71-10, 81-23, 46-73, 74-41);