Pune: Mumbai’s gifted cueist Sparsh Pherwani came up with a calculated, steady performance and managed to scrape past Pune’s Shivam Arora in an engrossing pre-quarter-final match of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship 2018 and played at the Deccan Gymkhna on Wednesday.
Sparsh Pherwani of Mumbai in action during the pre-quarter-final match of the Senior Snooker event of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) C’ship 2018.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, both Pherwani and Arora fought tooth and nail. They seized every chance to try and outsmart each other and as a result all the seven frames witnessed a close contests. The Pune player grabbed the initiative by winning the first and third frames to grab a 2-1 lead. But, Pherwani with some calculative play managed to pocket the next two frames in succession to jump into the lead (3-2). Arora fought back and took the sixth to level scores and take the match to the wire. In the decider, Pherwani was a bit more consistent with his pots and went on to claim the seventh frame to clinch a satisfying 64-75, 67-43, 39-63, 60-56, 68-22, 42-52, and 60-46 success and a passage to the quarter-finals.
In contrast, Pune’s Vignesh Sanghvi had an easy outing as he outshone Shabaz Khan of Mumbai by recording a convincing 4-1 win in another last 16 encounter. Sanghvi, dished out a brilliant potting display and rolled in a break of 50 in the second frame as he cruised to a 59-9, 65-61, 68-32, 13-68 and 67-19 victory.
Anand Raguvanshi, from Mumbai also had quite a relaxed time as he tamed his city rival Raajeev Sharma, by charging to a 4-1 (51-42, 56-35, 39-71, 61-54, 81-19) victory.
Meanwhile, in another all-Mumbai contest, Manav Pancha blanked Cherag Ramakrishnan in straight frames, 4-0, coating to a 61-37, 58-30, 67-21 and 63-16 win and a passage to the last eight round.
Pankaj Khatri the lone challenger from Nashik, also advanced to the quarter-finals. Khatri defeated Mumbai youngsters Kreishh Gurbaxani 4-2 (35-75, 52-46, 59-20, 20-63, 63-21, 60-37).
Results – Pre-quarter-finals: Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Viren Sharma (Pune) 4-2 (56-26, 57-44, 42-63, 31-51, 76(70)-1, 59-18);
Pankaj Khatri (Nashik) beat Kreishh Gurbaxani (Mumbai) 4-2 (35-75, 52-46, 59-20, 20-63, 63-21, 60-37);
Rishabh Thakkar (Mumbai) beat Mayank Bhavsar (Mumbai) 4-1 (43-71, 69-2, 61-6, 73-33, 84-60);
Abhimanyu Gandhi (Mumbai) beat Aakash Padalikar (Pune) 4-2 75(69)-8, 27-53, 73-26, 37-64, 70-10, 67-13);
Vignesh Sanghvi (Pune) beat Shabaz Khan (Mumbai) 4-1 (59-9, 65(50)-61, 68-32, 13-68, 67-19);
Manav Panchal (Mumbai) beat Cherag Ramakrishnan (Mumbai) 4-0 (61-37, 58-30, 67-21, 63-16);
Sparsh Pherwani (Mumbai) beat Shivam Arora (Pune) 4-3 (64-75, 67-43, 39-63, 60-56, 68-22, 42-52, 60-46);
Anand Raguvanshi (Mumbai) beat Raajeev Sharma (Mumbai) 4-1 (51-42, 56-35, 39-71, 61-54, 81-19).