Thane cueist Mithil Shinde proved too strong for Ansh Jain of Radio Club and eased to a fluent 3-0 win in a first round match of the BSAM Grassroot Snooker Challenge 2018 and played at the Cricket Club of India’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards room.
Shinde potted confidently against the Radio Club player Jain, who was unable to offer any resistance. The Thane player with some steady play raced to a 59-7, 42-6, 70-8 win. He signed off in style by compiling a break of 32 in the third frame.
Omkar Gore of Chiplun also had thing much his own way and outshone Mohammad Imran also of Radio Club, winning by an identical 3-0 margin. Gore faced a bit of challenge initially, but later was completely on a roll and stormed to a 62-22, 48-15 and 70-8 victory to join Shinde in the second round.
Meanwhile, Anuj Mahajan of Radio Club had a successful day as he got the better of Catholic Gymlhana’s James McCloskey 3-1// Mahajan showed good fighting spirit as he recovered from the loss of the opening frame to snatch a deserving 36-53, 46-24, 67-25 and 55-34 win in a first round encounter.
Goregaon Sports Club’s Sumeet Sharma put up a fighting performance and managed to overcome Akhil Saiyed of Vashi by a 3-2 margin in another first round clash. Sharma started with a flourish and quickly pocketed the first two frames, but he was unable to carry on the winning momentum as Saiyed claimed the next two to level scores and take the match to the wire. In a closely contested deciding frame, Sharma managed to hold his nerves to come through to clinch a satisfying 41-4, 65-41, 33-49, 18-68 and 61-47 success to pregress to the next round.
Results – 1st round: Mithil Shinde (Thane) beat Ansh Jain (Radio Club) 3-0 (59-7, 42-6, 70(32)-8); Sharad Sharma (Garware CH) beat Alam Shaikh (Mazagon) 3-1 (37-63, 59(33)-8, 51-42, 62(32)-14); Vishal Gehani (Park Club) beat Shivam Mehta (JVPG) 3-0 (56-45, 75-19, 64-39); Anuj Mahajan (Radio Club) beat James McCloskey (Catholic Gym) 3-1 (36-53, 46-24, 67-25, 55-34); Kishore Laungani (Khar Gym) beat Sanjiv Shah (JVPG) 3-1 (54-13, 54-2, 26-67, 60-13); Sumeet Sharma (GSC) beat Akhil Saiyed (Vashi) 3-2 (41-4, 65-41, 33-49, 18-68, 61-47); Prabdeep Singh (MIG) beat Neville Razmi (Radio) 3-1 (14-52(26), 55- 26, 61-35, 49-24); Prakash Karande (CCI) beat Ameya Sankhala (Park Club) 3-2 (9-73, 59-39, 65-36, 31-53, 57-39); Ish Bawa (NSCI) beat Mahadev Karande (JVPG) 3-0 (54-29, 56-16, 61-18); Mahesh Tolani (Radio Club) beat Ralph Fernandes (Catholic Gym) 3-2 (52(25)-9, 45-56, 5-41, 50-40, 52-38); Sameer Gupta (CCI) beat Dhrumil Bhavsar (MCF) 3-2 (46-50, 48-38, 40-32, 33-35, 41-32); Nitin Banka (MHC) beat Nakul Parkar (MIG) 3-1 (45-53, 80-61, 62-32, 60-40); Omkar Gore (Chiplun) beat Mohammad Imran (Radio Club) 3-0 (62-22, 48-15, 70-8).