Double Junior National champion Rayaan Razmi of Maharashtra and PSPB’s Sourav Kothari made strong statements by quickly winning their respective group matches by identical 4-0 margins on the opening day of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised Rs 6.4 lakh-NSCI All India Snooker Open ‘Baulkline’ 2022 and played at the NSCI billiards hall on Monday.
The 20-year-old Mumbai-based Rayaan, who had won both the billiards and snooker crowns in Bhopal last December, quickly got into a rhythm and struck the ball well, while compatriot Vishal was unable to settle down and caved in without a fight in their Group-D match. Rayaan immediately got down to business and after taking the first frame, hit breaks of 33, 45 and 37 in the next three frames to complete a 4-0 (70-30, 85-12, 79-41, and 81-8) victory.
Meanwhile, in a Group-E match, the 37-year-old experienced Sourav gave a superb demonstration of excellent shot selection, accurate potting, and shrewd tactical play against 19-year-old Digvijay Kadian of Haryana, who was unable to match his senior opponent.
Sourav, who recently won both the snooker and billiards titles in the Pacific International Championship in Melbourne, started by winning a tight first frame and then comfortably pocketed the second to take a 2-0 lead. In the third Digvijay potted much better and with only two colours remaining gained a 58-42 lead. But, he missed a difficult pink and the crafty Sourav cleverly snookered Digvijay and the youngster fouled giving away six points, which narrowed the lead. Thereafter, both attempted a safety approach before Digvijay sold the pink in the centre and Sourav grabbed the chance sinking the last two balls to clinch the frame. In the fourth Digvijay hardly got a look in as Sourav fired in a break of 58 and a couple of visits later rolled in a clearance of 67 to seal a 4-0 (65-58, 75-31, 61-58, and 125-0) win.
Maharashtra number 1, Kreishh Gurbaxani scored an authoritative win against compatriot Hasan Badami coasting to a 4-2 (73-30, 67-12, 27-63, 67-53, 0-89, and 104-0) in a Group-F encounter. Kreishh had breaks of 30 and 37 in the first frame, 53 in the second, 36 in the fourth and 45 and 59 in the sixth, while Hasan had breaks of 41 and 89 in the fourth and fifth frames.
Meanwhile, S. Shrikrishna (TN) slammed the first century break of 126 in winning the first frame against Avinash Kumar of Delhi. But, his effort went in vain as Avinash clinched a 4-2 (0-127, 89-16, 56-66, 61-53, 68-27, and 84-47) victory.
In a Group-G all-Railway contest, India number 6. Pushpender Singh staged a great recovery to put it across Nitesh Madan winning seven well-contested frames at 4-3 (59-71, 41-77, 91-13, 80-39, 58-65, 50-28, and 59-10).
Later, Uttar Pradesh’s Vishwajeet Mohan got the better of Maharashtra Abhishek Bajaj by a 4-2 (63-21, 57-43, 63(32)-54, 81-45, 29-70, 80-39) win.
Results – Group-A: Sparsh Pherwani (MAH) bt Mahaesh Jagdale (MAH) 4-3 (01-0, 01-0 (forfeited the first 2 frames for reporting late), 21-70, 64-66, 71(67)-32, 9-80, 49-36);
Group-D: Rajat Kaneja (CHD) bt Dhavaj Haria (PSPB) 4-3 (39-88, 65-22, 31-70, 70-4, 36-86(53), 67-42, 60-37)
Group-D: Rayaan Razmi (MAH) bt Vishal Gehani (MAH) 4-0 (70-30, 85(33)-12, 79(45)-41, 81(37)-8);
Group-E: Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Digvijay Kadian (HAR) 4-0 (65-58, 75-31, 61-58, 125(58,67)-0).
P. Vijay (TN) bt K. Venkatesham (RLYS) 4-1 (75-23, 29-68, 53-37, 80(39)-23, 62(47)-7);
Group-F: Kreishh Gurbaxani (MAH) beat Hasan Badami (MAH) 4-2 (73(30,37)-30, 67(53)-12, 27-63, 67(36)-53(41), 0-89(89), 104(45,59)-0.
Group-G: Pushpender Singh (RLYS) bt Nitesh Madan (RLYS) 4-3 (59-71, 41-77, 91-13, 80-39, 58-65, 50-28, 59-10);
Vishwajeet Mohan (UP) bt Abhishek Bajaj (MAH) 4-2 (63-21, 57-43, 63(32)-54, 81-45, 29-70, 80-39;
Group-H: Avinash Kumar (DEL) bt S. Shrikrishna (TN) 4-3 (0-127(126), 89-16, 56-66, 61-53, 68-27, 84-47).
Laxman Rawat (PSPB) bt Avinash Kumar (DEL) 4-1 (57-56, 7-78(78), 71(50)-41, 75(67)-19, 67-5).