Leading by example Zenul Arsiwala was instrumental in skippering Otters ‘Trail Blazzers’ to a tight 3-2 win against fancied BG ‘Champs’ in the round of 32 (knockout) match of the PJHG Global Ocean Group-Mumbai Snooker League (MSL) – 2015, being played at the Wilson Jones Billiards Hall at the P.J. Hindu Gymkhana, late on Saturday evening. The MSL is being conducted by the BSAM (Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra).
Arsiwala playing with a handicap of +45 exhibited a calm composure and potted steadily to win both his frames. The experienced Arsiwala easily overcame a young, edgy Nitesh Madan (+15) 90-52 in the first frame to give Blazzers the lead.
However, BG ‘Champs’ came back strongly, with their ace cueist Malkeet Singh (+15) defeating Zaheer Ratansi (+50) 94-62 in the second frame and in the third their doubles combination of Samir Sanghavi and Prashant Aggarwal (+53) prevailed over the Otters’ pairing of Angad Bhatty and Yudi Jaising (+48) to grab a 2-1 lead. But, Arsiwala kept Blazzers in the fight when he produced another good performance to put it cross Malkeet Singh 93-56 to level scores at 2-all, before Jaising capitalised on the errors of Madan, who missed a couple of simple pots, to win the crucial decider 87-43and seal Blazzers’ win.
In another exciting contest, PG ‘Cues’ rallied from the loss of the opening frame to quell the challenge from JVPG ‘Tigers’ by snatching a close 3-2 win. Neville Razmi (+45) was the hero of Cues victory as he won both his frames, including a match-winning display in the fifth frame against Rajesh Vora (+45) which he won quite comfortably at 118-63 to complete the win and carry Cues to the next round.
In other matches, Radio ‘The A Team’ blanked ‘The Woody Woodpeckers’ 3-0 and CG ‘Gladiators’ got the better of CG ‘Dynamics’ 3-1.
In the pre-quarter-finals, Blazzers will take on IG ‘Shockers on Tuesday, while PG ‘Cues’ will run into DG ‘Untouchables’ on Monday.
Results – Round of 32: PG ‘Cues’ beat JVPG ‘Tigers’ 3-2 (Kaizad Dandiwalla (+40) lost to Anup Kedia (+40) 121-85, Neville Razmi (+45) bt Rahil Patel (+35) 112-97, Sohrab Nejabat/ Rayaan Razmi (+48) bt Birju Kanani/ Ketan Shah (+50) 108-91, K. Dandiwalla (+40) lost to A. Kedia 109-102, N. Razmi bt Rajesh Vora (+45) 118-63).
Otters ‘Trail Blazzers’ beat BG ‘Champs’ 3-2 (Zenul Arsiwala (+45) bt Nitesh Madan (+15) 90-52, Zaheer Ratansi (+50) lost to Malkeet Singh (+15) 62-94, Angad Bhatty/ Yudi Jaising (+48) lost to Samir Sanghavi/ Prashant Aggarwal (+53) 95-122, Z. Arsiwala bt M. Singh 93-56, Y. Jaising bt N. Madan 87-43).
CG ‘Gladiators’ bt CG ‘Dynamics’ 3-1 (Vimal Thakkar (+40) lost to Ralph Fernandes (+45) 82-91, Vishal Madan/ Megh Shah(+40) bt Karl Vaz/Alex D’Cruz (+48) 118-80, Loukic Pathare (+40) bt Sachin Kelkar (+50) 111-74, V. Thakkar bt R. Fernandes 98-54).
Radio ‘The A Team’ beat ‘The Woody Woodpeckers 3-0 (Rahul Bhatnagar (+40) bt Cyrus Aga (+50) 97-63, Anees Jumani (+35) bt Kersi Aga (+50) 94-80, Anuj Mahajan/ Mahesh Tolani (+45) bt B. Aga/Xerxes Aga (+55) 102-61).