Playing with grit and determination, Mumbai’s Vinay Swaminathan toppled Maharashtra state champion Saad Sayed of Pune, recording a deserving 5-2 victory in a ‘6-Red’ quarter-final match of the Malabar Hill Club State Ranking Snooker Tournament 2024 and played at the MHC billiards hall on Friday.
Swaminathan who practices at the Bombay Gymkhana constructed a superb 43-point break in the third frame and raced to a 3-0 lead. The Pune challenger Sayed fought back and snatched the next two frames to cut the lead and stay in the fight. But, Swaminathan produced a brilliant 67-point break to win the sixth frame and then, with small efforts, pocketed the seventh to close out the match.
In another quarter-final, Mumbai’s talented youngster Sumer Mago showed tremendous resilience to get the better of compatriot Nikhil Saigal 5-4 in a tense and nail-biting engrossing contest. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Saigal rolled in an unfinished break of 49 to win the fifth frame and take a 3-2 lead before Sumer clinched the sixth and then compiled an unfinished effort of 46 to open up a 4-3 lead. However, Saigal fought on and took the eighth to force the decider. In the final frame Sumer potted steadily and did well to win the ninth frame to snatch a 21-49, 37-1, 1-29, 33-11, 19-49(49*), 38-10, 46(46*)-10, 22-30, and 46-13 victory.
Results – 6-Red (quarter-finals): Vinay Swaminathan (Mum) beat Saad Sayed (Pune) 5-1 (37-3, 39-21, 43(43)-16, 6-38, 23-35, 67(67)-0, 40-0);
Sumer Mago (Mum) beat Nikhil Saigal (Mum) 5-4 (21-49, 37-1, 1-29, 33-11, 19-49(49*), 38-10, 46(46*)-10, 22-30, 46-13).
Second round: Mahesh Jagdale (Mum) beat Rajeev Sharma (Mum) 5-0 (40-14, 40-9, 34-12, 31-22, 47-33);
Gaurav Jaisinghani (Thane) bt Huzefa Cheni (Mum) 5-0 (40-23, 55-15, 32-5, 44-28, 40-15);
Suraj Rathi (Pune) bt Akash Thakkar (Pachim) 5-2 (12-33, 41-12, 32-35, 40-10, 31-23, 53(47*)-2, 28-19);
Krishna Tohgaonkar (Thane) beat Abhijeet Ranade (Pune) 5-4 (17-31, 0-49, 52-16, 35-17, 24-34, 59(39)-0, 34-22, 0-43, 31-23).