Otters Club team Otters ‘Rockets’ are just a win away from completing an historic hat-trick of triumphs in the Billiards & Snooker Association of Maharashtra organized BSMA-Otters Mumbai Snooker League. Having consecutively emerged champions in the last two years Otters Rockets’ cueists produced another brilliant consistent performance to bulldoze their way past Malabar Hill Club’s MHCL ‘Snooker Stars’, charging to a quick 3-0 victory in the best-of-five frame semi-final match at the Otters Club billiards room.
Otters Club cueist Abhimanyu Gandhi fired in two breaks of 40 and 47 to win the first frame against Rohan Mehta and lead Otters ‘Rockets to a 3-0 win against MHCL ‘Snooker Stars; in a semi-final match of the BSAM-Otters Mumbai Snooker League
Standing in Otters Club’s path to winning their third title is Juhu Vile Parle’s outfit JVPG ‘Mafia’ who scraped past North Indian Association’s NIA ‘Surgical Strikers’ by a thin 3-2 margin in a closely contested second semi-final.
Otters Club’s proficient cueist Abhimanyu Gandhi provided the home team with the best possible start. Gandhi playing with a handicap of +10 against Malabar Hill Club’s Rohan Mehta (+60), showed excellent touch and control as he constructed a break of 40 to cut down the 50 point advantage he had conceded. He followed it up with a neatly compiled effort of 47 to complete a facile 109-64 win in the 15-red singles first frame.
Later, the Otters Club combination of Nabil Lakdawala and Zenul Arsiwala (+18) comfortably defeated the Snooker Stars pairing of Manav Panchal and Adil Engineer (+24) coasting to a 77-42 win in the 9-red doubles second frame and double the lead.
In the third frame, youngster Yash Babni (+55) grabbed his chances to score over Malabar Hill Club’s reliable player Akshat Kejriwal (+45) winning by a close 108- 85 margin to wrap up the contest and ensure Otters Club passage to the summit round.
Results – semi-finals: Otters Rockets beat MHCL Snooker Stars 3-0 (Abhimanyu Gandhi (+10) beat Rohan Mehta (+60) 109(40,47)-64; Nabil Lakdawala/ Zenul Arsiwala (+18) beat Manav Panchal/ Adil Engineer (+24) 77-42; Yash Babni (+55) beat Akshat Kejriwal (+45) 108- 85).
JVPG ‘Mafia’ beat NIA ‘Surgical Strikers’ 3-2 (Kirshna Saraf (+40) beat Divesh Gangwani (+40) 100-60; Asutosh Padhye/ Rahil Patel (+15) beat Manjeet Singh/ Rajan Gupta (+29) 76-49; Adit Raja (+40) lost Hardik Vyas (+50) 70-100; Krishna Saraf lost Divesh Gangwani 79-126; Adit Raja beat Hardik Vyas 107-66).