Nikhil Ootam of Cricket Club of India produced a late fight back to brush aside the challenge from Sanjiv Shah of Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana and snatched a close 3-2 win in the best-of-5-frame third and final qualifying round snooker match of the BSAM Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-2) Championship 2018, and played at the Bombay Gymkhana billiards room.
The CCI cueist Ootam started brightly by taking the first frame, but surrendered the next two as Shah opened up a 2-1 lead. However, Ootam showed strong fighting spirit and won the fourth to level scores before winning a tight fifth to seal his victory and claim a place in the main draw.
Karan Mangat of BPGC also progressed to the main round as he got the better of Marzdi Kalyaniwala of Bombay Gymkhana 3-2 (46-28, 15-65, 55-48, 47-51, 60-14) in another third round match.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Gamre of Bombay Gymkhana and Nikhil Saigal of Khar Gymkhana, both won their respective third round encounters in convincing fashions. The experienced Gamre sidelined 13-year-old Shahyan Razmi of Elphinstone CC 3-0 (64-46, 63-23, 68-35, while Saigal tamed Pratik Thakkar of Thane 3-0 (86-61, 63-35, 62-46.
Results – Snooker qualifying (Round-3): Karan Mangat (BPGC) beat Marzdi Kalyaniwala (Bombay Gym) 3-2 (46-28, 15-65, 55-48, 47-51, 60-14); Sanjay Gamre (Bombay Gym) beat Shahyan Razmi (Elphinstone CC) 3-0 (64-46, 63-23, 68-35); Nikhil Ootam (CCI) beat Sanjiv Shah (JVPG) 3-2 (41-32, 36-61, 13-58, 66-25, 54-40); Gaurav Jaisinghani (Vashi) beat Shubhojit Roy (NSCI) 3-1 (55-27, 56-21, 46-50, 48-10); Selven Samuel (Otters Club) beat Avenish Shah (MCF) 3-1 (62-42, 54-50, 27-63, 59-10); Nikhil Saigal (Khar Gymkhana) beat Pratik Thakkar (Thane) 3-0 (86-61, 63-35, 62-46).
Round-2: Avenish Shah (MCF) beat Kalpesh Mevada (SG) 3-1 (37-61, 44-27, 73-23, 64-50); Selven Samuel (Otters Club) beat Mithil Shinde (Thane) 3-1 (55-1, 29-51, 52-44, 56-27); Shubhojit Roy (NSCI) beat Zareer Shroff (Bombay Gym) 3-0 (58-36, 45-34, 50-47); Sanjiv Shah (JVPG) beat Sumit Ahuja (Ulhasnagar) 3-1 (42-73, 70-37, 81-56, 65-48); Shahyan Razmi (ECC) beat Kishore Laungani (Khar Gym) 3-1 (57-23, 58-32, 60-72, 64-24); Marzdi Kalyaniwala (Bombay Gym) beat Joseph Menezes (Otters Club) 3-0 (56-31, 49-11, 61-32).