Sunil Jadhav lost a close first frame, but staged a gallant fight back to overcome Shailesh Nadella by a fighting 3-1 (23-35, 31-21, 32-18, and 33-22) margin in a best-of-5-frame first round match of the Matunga Gymkhana organized Rs 1.8 lakh 6-Red Open Snooker Tournament, conducted under the auspices of BSAM, and played at the gymkhana’s billiards hall on Saturday. The tournament is being supported by Pidilite Industries Ltd, Nagee Cues and Himatlal Doshi.
In a second round encounter, Uves Khakhu maintained his winning form to sideline Vishal Devatwal carving out a hard-fought 3-2 (23-30, 33-16, 25-34, 39-27 and 41-3) frame score win.
In other first round encounters, Aditya Bedre and Dayanand Shinde registered contrasting victories. Bedre was in great touch and smoothly sailed past Tekhum Aalim by a 3-0 (43-34, 35-10 and 28-25) victory, while Shinde encountered a strong challenge from Bhushan Ruke before managing to scrape through posting a 3-2 (42-6, 28-32, 33-23, 22-38 and 39-23) victory.
Kersie Aga was in prime form against Mitesh Thakkar and won in four frames. Aga was in full flow and except for a slight lapse of concentration in the third frame he had things completely under control against Thakkar and cruised to a 3-1 (46-0, 35-1, 26-40 and 41-6) with the frame scores reading in his favour.
Results – Round-1: Pratik Thakkar bt Bapu Gaikwad 3-1 (2-41, 58-36, 55-21, 44-24); Sunil Jadhav bt Shailesh Nadella 3-1 (23-35, 31-21, 32-18, 33-22); Shubham Wani bt Rutuz Shah 3-0 (34-17, 44-26, 33-12); Manoj Nandwani bt Manjit Singh 3-1 (35-18, 27-44, 31-0, 42-22); Aditya Bedre bt Tekhum Aalim 3-0 (43-34, 35-10, 28-25; Dayanand Shinde bt Bhushan Ruke 3-2 (42-6, 28-32, 33-23, 22-38, 39-23); Kersie Aga bt Mitesh Thakkar 3-1 (46-0, 35-1, 26-40, 41-6).
Round-2: Uves Khakhu bt Vishal Devatwal 3-2 (23-30, 33-16, 25-34, 39-27, 41-3).