Amit Sapru (handicap -180) of Park Club staved off a strong challenge from club mate Sanjiv Bijlani (-150) and managed to scrape through, winning by a thrilling 380-335 point margin in a well contested, race to 200 points format, knockout round of the SPG-PCL Billiards Tournament 2022, and played at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana and Park Club billiards halls.
Both Sapru and Bijlani played steadily and were engaged in a keen tussle for supremacy. Trailing by over 70 points Sapru fought back and with the help of two useful breaks of 41 and 32 managed to sneak through by a narrow margin. Bijlani managed a solitary break of 31 points and had to bow out.
Rovin D’Souza (-225) of Hindu Gymkhana was on a roll and outplayed Juzer Master (-120) of Islam Gymkhana romping to a fluent 425-201 victory to also qualify for the main draw.
Seasoned campaigners Nikhil Ghadge of Western Railway SA and Chandresh Shah of Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana won their respective matches and qualified for the main draw. Ghadge (-180) compiled breaks of 63, 51, and 42 and went on to outplay ECC’s Sunil Jain (-150) by charging to a 380-226 victory. Chandresh (-190) produced a steady performance and constructed breaks of 34, 34, 34, and 31 which enabled him to tame Park Club’s Anant Mehta (-90) by a comfortable 390-141 points margin.
Mahesh Jagdale (-250) of ECC looked to be in good form and easily defeated Raju Jham (-70) of Park Club by a huge 450-150 points difference. Jagdale managed to build four substantial breaks of 58, 50, 45, and 42 during his win.
Results: Rovin D’Souza (Hindu Gym, handicap -225) beat Juzer Master (IG, -120) 425-201; Mahesh Jagdale (ECC, -250) beat Raju Jham (PCL, -70) 450-150; Sumer Mago (Khar Gym, -160) beat Karan Makwana (CRMI, -100) 360-247; Chandresh Shah (JVPG, -190) beat Anant Mehta (Park Club, -90) 390-141; Hasan Badami (IG, -200) beat Mithil Shinde (Thane, -90) 400-177; Amit R Sapru (Park Club, -180) beat Sanjiv Bijlani (Park Club, -150) 380-335; Nikhil Ghadge (WRSA, -180) beat Sunil Jain (ECC, -150) 380-226; Sanket Bapat (SPG, -150) beat Nikhil Lalwani (CG, -120) 350-261; Mahadev Bhogle (JVPG, -160) beat Naresh Sadrangani (MG, -120) 360-215.