Yasin Merchant of Khar Gymkhana showed that he still has the hunger for success and proved it in abundance measure by winning the snooker crown in the BSAM Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-2) Championship 2018, at the Bombay Gymkhana billiards room.
Yasin Merchant (right) defeated Mukund Bharadia of CCI 4-0 in the snooker final of the snooker competition of the BSAM Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-2) Championship 2018
The experienced campaigner and former two-time Asian Snooker champion and winner of several national and major titles, Merchant, just kept it simple and potted steadily to curb the aspirations of Mukund Bharadia of Cricket Club of India by coasting to a straight frame 4-0 victory.
Bharadia was not his usual self and was unable to build on the opportunities to construct the big breaks and that proved to be his undoing. On the other hand the cool and composed Merchant managed to compile a tidy break of 35 in the first and then made a run of 44 to pocket the fourth and complete a deserving 69-28, 60-47, 70-47 and 64-33 triumph.
Sparsh Pherwani and Bharadia, both of CCI finished as Maharashtra’s number one and two ranked players. They both had an identical combined tally of 12 points each, but the former won the play-off to become the number one ranked snooker player. Pherwani had won the first leg to pick up 9 points and earned 3 points after he lost in the quarter-finals in the second. Bharadia, who finished second best in the second leg, got 7 points to add to the 5 points he had received for reaching the semi-finals of the first leg.
Merchant, who had skipped the first leg, picked up 9 points after he became champion and also the third ranked player. Hindu Gymkhana’s 4 Anand Raghuvanshi with a quarter-final and semi-final finish tallied 8 points and was placed fourth.
Result –
final: Yasin Merchant (Khar Gym) beat Mukund Bharadia (CCI) 4-0 (69-28, 60-47, 70-47, 64-33).
The top-four ranked players: No. 1: Sparsh Pherwani (CCI) (1st leg – 9 + 2nd leg – 3 = 12 pts).
No. 2: Mukund Bharadia (CCI) (5+7 = 12)
No. 3: Yasin Merchant (Khar Gym) (0+9 = 9)
No. 4: Anand Raghuvanshi (Hindu Gym) (3+5 = 8).