Madhya Pradesh cueist Nikhilesh Pillai potted fluently to overcome home challenger Amitesh Goenka by a 3-0 (72-10, 57-24, 57-13) win in a first round match of the Rs 12.5 lakh prize-money CCI Snooker Classic 2024, organised by the Cricket Club of India, and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall on Tuesday. The Jabalpur player tactfully constructed a break of 64 points in the first frame which set the tone for his success.
Madhya Pradesh cueist Nikhilesh Pillai potted fluently to overcome home challenger Amitesh Goenka by a 3-0 (72-10, 57-24, 57-13) win in a first round match.
Seasoned campaigner Siddharth Parikh also showed great touch and rolled in 65 point break in the opening frame and went on to tame Hardik Kariya by a convincing 3-0 (89-18, 77-43, 74-10) victory in a second round encounter.
Meanwhile, Nikhil Saigal faced quite a stiff challenge from Hyderabad’s Abed Sayed and managed to scrape through by a tight 3-2 (24-64, 64-42, 62-37, 12-53, 53-48) win to advance to the third round. Saigal made a break of 49 in the third and won a close fifth to seal his win.
In third round encounters, Rajeev Sharma outshone Marzdi Kalyaniwala cruising to a quick 3-0 (66-10, 70-29, 64-39) win, while Nikhil Ghadge fought hard to put it across a spirited Samarth Vernekar snatching a 3-2 (44-77, 61-28, 27-66, 50-46, 68-38) victory.
Results – Round-1: Raj Charri bt J.N. Nagpal 3-0 (60-38, 47-41, 62-49); Samar Khandelwal bt Amit Poojari 3-0 (53-29, 64-39, 68-56); Rehan Patel bt Narendra Bhavsar 3-0 (68-34, 71-45, 72-16); Raj Shetty bt Gaurav Prabhu 3-1 (24-67, 58-19, 67-52, 58-30); Jignesh Choksi bt Arun Barve 3-2 (18-52, 46-53, 64-36, 52-16, 50-9); Md. Salim bt Monaj Kasare 3-0 (53-41, 71-17, 69-21); Sukeel Venkatramani bt Manoj Nandwani 3-0 (54-30, 75-52, 47-34); Nikhilesh Pillai (MP) bt Amitesh Goenka 3-0 (72(64)-10, 57-24, 57-13).
Round-2: Danish Khan bt Sandeep Gulrajani 3-1 (23-50, 53-22, 61-40, 50-40; Jayesh Salvi bt Suraj Veer 3-1 (68-54(46), 54-34, 19-53, 57-17); Devendra Patel bt Shafique Khatri 3-0 (60-38, 77-32, 67-1); Nikhil Saigal bt Abed Sayed (Hyd) 3-2 (24-64, 64-42, 62(49)-37, 12-53, 53-48); Siddharth Parikh bt Hardik Kariya 3-0 (89(65)-18, 77-43, 74-10).
Round-3: Rajeev Sharma bt Marzdi Kalyaniwala 3-0 (66-10, 70(37)-29, 64-39); Nikhil Ghadge bt Samarth Vernekar 3-2 (44-77, 61-28, 27-66, 50-46, 68-38).