Playing in familiar surroundings Manav Panchal of Mumbai continued with his impressive winning performances and outsmarted Vashi challenger Gaurav Jaisinghani by charging to a facile 4-2 win in a best-of-7-frame Senior men’s 15-red snooker quarter-final match of the Malabar Hill Club State Ranking Snooker Tournament 2024, played at the MHC billiards hall on Friday.
In the most exciting match of the evening, Sumit Ahuja of Ulhasnagar put up a gallant fight to overcome Mumbai challenger Sumer Mago clinch a come from behind 4-3 (40-58, 69-26, 48-74, 76-67, 10-70, 48-47, and 52-42) victory.
The experienced Panchal, a member of the Malabar Hill Club played confidently on his home tables and potted steadily to carve out a satisfying 43-41, 53-67, 60-37, 73-91, 68-13, and 71-0 frame scores victory to seal his berth in the semi-finals.
In the penultimate round, Panchal will meet Adit Raja who recorded a shock 4-0 win against Mumbai’s seasoned cueist Hasan Badami in another last eight encounter. Raja was in prime potting form and rolled in breaks of 54 (1st frame), 32 (2nd frame) and 30 (4th frame) to notch up a 64-13, 59-23, 68-59, and 58-1 victory. Badami compiled a break of 48 in the third frame but he narrowly lost the frame.
Results – Men’s 15-red snooker (quarter-finals): Adit Raja (Mumbai) beat Hasan Badami (Mumbai) 4-0 (64(54)-13, 59(32)-23, 68-59(48), 58(30)-1);
Manav Panchal (Mumbai) beat Gaurav Jaisinghani (Vashi) 4-2 (43-41, 53-67, 60(30)-37, 73-91(34), 68-13, 71-0);
Yudhishthir Jaising (Mumbai) beat Krishna Tohgaonkar (Thane) 4-3 (60-50, 55(40)-12, 54-27, 22-86, 18-58, 48-62, 68-34);
Sumit Ahuja (Ulhasnagar) beat Sumer Mago (Mumbai) 4-3 (40-58, 69-26, 48-74, 76-67, 10-70, 48-47, 52-42).