Swaminathan to take on talented youngster Mago

Mumbai based Vinay Swaminathan and Sumer Mago, carved out hard easy wins in their respective ‘6-Red’ semi-final matches of the Malabar Hill Club (MHC) State Ranking Snooker Tournament 2024, played at the MHC Billiards Hall, Mumbai on Tuesday.

In the first round-of-four knock of match, Swaminathan dished out a stellar performance and with clever tactical play halted Pune cueist Suraj Rathi’s fine run in the competition. The Bombay Gymkhana player went for his shots and sidelined the Pune challenger registering a 6-4 (7-64, 38-2, 33-25, 38-0, 27-37, 31-39, 57-6, 20-28, 42-22, and 54-4) win in the best-of-11-frame encounter.

The second semi-final was an all-Mumbai affair wherein young talent Mago rose to the challenge against Abhishek Bajaj who struggled a bit and was unable to produce his best, which proved costly in the end . The Khar Gymkhana youngster on the other hand grabbed his chances and potted the ball with quite consistently to outshine his Bombay Gymkhana rival with a fluent 6-4 (34-29, 46-0, 2-49, 23-57, 40-1, 44-1, 5-31, 17-37, 28-18, and 37-3) victory. Mago’s best effort was a break of 46 in the second frame.

Earlier playing with grit and determination, Mumbai’s Vinay Swaminathan toppled Maharashtra state champion Saad Sayed of Pune in the ‘6-Red’ quarter-final match with a deserving 5-2 triumph. Swaminathan 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, Vinay Swaminathan produced a brilliant 67-point break to win the sixth frame and then, with small efforts, pocketed the seventh to close out the defending champion and qualify for the semis.

On the other hand  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 took a 3-2 lead before Sumer Mago clinched the sixth and then compiled an unfinished effort of 46 to open up a 4-3 lead. Saigal too fought back on and took the eighth to force the decider. In the final frame Mago 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 tense win in the other quarter-final tie.

Results - 6-Red :

Semi-finals: Vinay Swaminathan (Mumbai) beat  Suraj Rathi (Pune) 6-4 (7-64, 38-2, 33-25, 38-0, 27-37, 31-39, 57-6, 20-28, 42-22, 54-4);

Sumer Mago (Mumbai) beat  Abhishek Bajaj (Mumbai) 6-4 (34-29, 46(46)-0, 2-49, 23-57, 40-1, 44-1, 5-31, 17-37, 28-18, 37-3).

Quarter-finals*: Vinay Swaminathan (Mumbai) beat Saad Sayed (Pune) 5-1 (37-3, 39-21, 43(43)-16, 6-38, 23-35, 67(67)-0, 40-0);

Sumer Mago (Mumbai) beat Nikhil Saigal (Mumbai) 5-4 (21-49, 37-1, 1-29, 33-11, 19-49(49*), 38-10, 46(46*)-10, 22-30, 46-13).

*Results incomplete