Sitwala, Kothari too march ahead

A double-century break (208 points) by one of the most accomplished Billiards player Pankaj Advani of ONGC against Mumbai’s Yogesh Rungta was the highlight in the Men’s Senior Billiards third round match of the CR Realty-Western India Billiards and Snooker Championships 2024 that is being organised and hosted by Khar Gymkhana in association with the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM) at its Billiards Hall on Wednesday

The 27 World titles winner from Bengaluru-based Advani kicked of his campaign in style and registered two century efforts (133 & 122) and an 87 in his authoritative 945-194 margin triumph over a period of two hours.

Mumbai’s talented youngster Shahyan Razmi continued with his impressive form and defeated the experienced Loukic Pathare of Railways 666-360 in another third round clash. Shahyan on his first visit rolled in a break of 84 and a couple of visits later he stitched together a break of 83 and followed it up with a composed 72 to build a sizable lead over Pathare, who was not at his best.

Seasoned Central Railway’s cueist Ashok Shandilya of Mumbai rode on his vast experience to outsmart Khar Gymkhana’s Tathya Sachdev 566-378. Shandilya's best effort was a 146, besides breaks of 73 and two efforts of 56 points. Tathya tried his best and managed a run of 90 and 57.

In Snooker action, India’s National champion Sourav Kothari (ONGC) and former champion Kamal Chawla (Railways) eased into the pre-quarters. The Kolkata-based Kothari got the better of Railways R. Girish 4-1 (77-21, 70-31, 46-62, 79-11, and 67-55), while the Madhya Pradesh cueist Chawla with breaks of 57 and 47 in the opening two frames blanked J. Varun Kumar of Tamil Nadu 4-0 (108-11, 108-12, 61-58, and 64-1).

In other matches, Saqlain Mushtaque of West Bengal prevailed over Pune’s Shivam Arora  4-1 (24-58, 49-33, 76-9, 64-27, and 56-17) and Gujarat’s challenger Shashi Patel got the better of Devendra Joshi (BPCL) 4-2 (72-29, 16-66, 72-61, 87-42, 38-46, and 68-25).

Earlier Indian National Champion Dhruv Sitwala of ONGC stamped his authority by recording a comfortable 685-290 win against Mumbai’s upcoming cueist Akshay Gogri in a Senior Billiards main draw third round match. The three-time Asian billiards champion Sitwala constructed substantial breaks of 165, 143, 91 and 58 to seal his victory.

Former World Billiards champion and current Indian National Snooker champion Sourav Kothari of Kolkata also enjoyed an easy outing defeating Khar Gymkhana’s player Sahil Kakad 66-4-244 in another third round match. The Kolkata cueists had a sizeable break of 104 during his win.

Meanwhile, Mumbai’s young talent Shahyan Razmi recorded a stunning win against seasoned campaigner Arun Agrawal also of Mumbai 541-420 in a second round encounter. The left-handed Shahyan had made one big effort of 107.

In other second round matches, Khar Gymkhana’s Tathya Sachdev defeated Akash Asrani 482-287 in an all-Mumbai clash on another table, Raajeev Sharma of Malabar Hill Club got the better of BPCL’s Manan Chandra 446-393. The Delhi cueist Chandra compiled a big break of 104 which went in vain.

On the other hand Khar Gymkhana’s Sahil Kakad won both his Men’s Senior billiards and Snooker first round matches. The 26-year-old Kakad played with solid determination and after losing the first frame fought back to overcome Shakir Qureshi of Mumbai 4-3 (24-66, 57-4, 59-35, 49-66, 55-24, 63-65, and 53-39) in an engrossing and tense Snooker encounter. Kakad earlier had defeated Selven Samuel of Mumbai 337-238 in the Men’s Senior Billiards first round match.

Another Khar Gymkhana product Sumer Mago also advanced to the second round. Mago produced a break of 69 in the sixth frame to overcome Pune’s Suraj Rathi 4-2 (5-71, 37-68, 81-1, 65-55, 52-26, 69-5).

Results (Main Draw)*:

Senior Snooker (Round 3): Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt R. Girish (Rlys) 4-1 (77-21, 70-31, 46-62, 79-11, 67-55); Saqlain Mushtaque (WB) bt Shivam Arora (Pune) 4-1 (24-58, 49-33, 76-9, 64-27, 56-17); Kamal Chawla  (Rlys) bt J. Varun Kumar (TN) 4-0 (108(57)-11, 108(47)-12, 61-58, 64-1); Shashi Patel (Guj) bt Devendra Joshi (BPCL) 4-2 (72-29, 16-66, 72-61, 87-42, 38-46, 68-25); Laxman Rawat (IOCL) bt Hrithik Jain (MP) 4-2 (14-71, 83-60, 12-66, 71(56)-42, 71-10, 76-37);

Senior Billiards  (Round 3): Shahyan Razmi (Mum) bt Loukic Pathare (Rlys) 666 (84,83,72)-360; Ashok Shandilya (Mum) bt Tathya Sachdev (MP) 566 (146,73,56,56)-378(90,57); Mehul Sutariya (MAH) bt Rovin D'Souza 334-286; S. Srikrishna (BPCL) bt Aryan Parulekar (Mum) 334 (95,85)-283; Pankaj Advani (ONGC) bt Yogesh Rungta (Mum) 945(208,133,122,87)-194; Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Sahil Kakad (Mum) 664(104)-244; Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) bt Akshay Gogri (Mum) 685(165,143,91,58)-290(76);

Senior Billiards (Round 2): Rishabh Thakkar (Mum) bt Rohan Pai (Mum) 494(92,59,58,52,48)-157; Tathya Sachdev (Mum) bt Akash Asrani (Mum) 482(81)-287; Raajeev Sharma (MAH) bt Manan Chandra (BPCL) 446-393(104); Chandu Kasodaria (Mum) bt Vishal Gehani (Mum) 451-251; Shahyan Razmi (Mum) bt Arun Agrawal (Mum) 541(107)-420;

Senior Billiards (Round 1): Saqlain Mushtaque (WB) bt Dhvaj Haria (Guj) 4-3 (54-38, 66-27, 17-63, 35-66, 32-103(63), 63-55, 61-58); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Anant Mehta (Mum) 4-0 (62-34, 71(52)-13, 74-21, 84-27); J. Varun Kumar (TN) bt Janak Masand (Mum) 4-0 (67-58, 53-27, 74(60)-15, 48-8); S. Srikrishna (PSPB) bt Piyush Kushwaha (MP) 4-3 (21-67, 40-89(81), 46-79, 69-29, 56-15, 57-21, 55-31); Sumer Mago (Mum) bt Suraj Rathi (Pune) 4-2 (5-71, 37-68, 81-1, 65-55, 52-26, 69(69)-5); Sahil Kakad (Mum) bt Shakir Qureshi (Mum) 4-3 (24-66, 57-4, 59-35, 49-66, 55-24, 63-65, 53-39)

Senior Billiards (Round 1): Sahil Kakad (Mum) bt Selven Samuel (Mum) 337-238;