Senior Snooker qualifiers gets underway

Thane cueist Krishna Tohgaonkar showed great touch in his solid start while effecting a 79 point break in his convincing 4-0 (50-8, 60-10, 65-15, and 103-0) triumph over Sharad Sharma, Mumbai in a Senior Snooker second round qualification match of the Khar Gymkhana’s CR Realty-Western India Billiards and Snooker Championships 2024 being held in association with the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM) after a gap of 33 years and played at the Khar Gymkhana Billiards room.

Meanwhile, Pune cueists Pinak Anap and Abhijeet Ranade too comfortably won their third-round matches and qualified for the main draw.

A confident Anap, constructed a break of 46 points in the opening frame and went on to defeat Mumbai cueist Khushal Galaiya 4-2 (74-17, 54-60, 28-54, 72-8, 74-50, and 64-37). Ranade also started with a flourish making a 52 point break in the first frame and then went on to overcome Mumbai’s Yash Babani 4-2 (67-10, 45-59, 80-43, 54-55, 40-19, and 65-7).

Meanwhile, Gujarat’s challenger, Parth Shar marched into the third round by scoring over Mumbai’s Nikhil Bhansali (MAH) by a 4-2 (62-52, 59-14, 72-65, 52-55, 32-53, and 62-11) margin.

Earlier in a first-round match, local favourite Manoj Kasare of Mumbai put up a solid fighting performance and managed to overcome Ashish Gore also of Mumbai by carving out a hard-fought 4-3 (52-18, 79-35, 35-61, 30-72, 69-27, 45-82, and 61-46). In another closely contested first round encounter, Mumbai’s Neil Gudiwalla got the better of city mate Nishit Majmudar by a narrow 4-3 (53-28, 30-60, 58-63, 68-54, 53-41, 11-54, and 53-34) margin.

Meanwhile, seasoned cueist Manav Panchal made an early exit losing to Yash Babani of Mumbai 2-4 in a well-contested second round encounter. Babani started in positive fashion and won the first three frames to take a commanding 3-0 frame scores lead. Panchal fought well and managed to pocket the next two frames to close the gap. But, Babani returned to winning ways and took the sixth frame to clinch a 56-14, 69-40, 56-35, 36-67, 39-48, and 66-35 frame scores win.

The much awaited tourney which was last conducted way back in 1991 will witness competitions in three categories -- Senior Billiards, Senior Snooker and Junior Snooker.

Reigning Asian and National Billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala, India’s celebrated cueist Pankaj Advani winner of 27 World titles, National snooker champion Sourav Kothari, Aditya Mehta, Laxman Rawat, Rupesh Shah, Dhvaj Haria, Alok Kumar, Siddharth Parikh and S. Srikrishna to name a few will be the players to watch competing for top honours in the Senior Billiards and Snooker events.

On offer are handsome prize-money awards for the champions. The Senior Snooker champion and runner-up stand to earn Rs 200,000 and Rs 120,000 respectively, while the winner of the Senior billiards will receive Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000 for the runners-up. A purse of Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000 will be presented to the winner and runner-up respectively, in the Junior Snooker event.

Prizes will also be awarded in the Senior events for players who reach the last 16 and also be eligible for cash awards for the top breaks.

Results (Senior Qualification):

Round 1: Manoj Kasare (MAH) beat Ashish Gore (MAH) 4-3 (52-18, 79-35, 35-61, 30-72, 69-27, 45-82, 61-46); Neil Gudiwalla (MAH) beat Nishit Majmudar (MAH) 4-3 (53-28, 30-60, 58-63, 68-54, 53-41, 11-54, 53-34); Khushal Galaiya (MAH) beat Ronak Dedhia (MAH) 4-1 (62-40, 56-46, 54-40, 40-53, 46-28); Parth Shah (GUJ) beat Jairaj Soni (Pune) 4-0 (66-8, 59-6, 61-8, 56-14);

Round-2: Prayanshu Palan (MAH) beat Arshad Turki (MAH) 4-1 (59-35, 35-50, 67-28, 69-26, 62-50); Parth Shah (GUJ) beat Nikhil Bhansali (MAH) 4-2 (62-52, 59-14, 72-65, 52-55, 32-53, 62-11);Krishna Tohgaonkar (Thane) beat Sharadi Sharma (Mumbai) 4-0 (50-8, 60-10, 65-15, 103(79)-0); Mahesh Jagdale (MAH) beat Anil Sahani (MAH) 4-1 (67-31, 45-61, 62-7, 69-25, 60-12);  Pinak Anap (Pune) beat Pranay Gharat (MAH) 4-0 (64-58, 41-26, 42-8, 62-49); Vishwajeet Mohan (UP) beat Pratik Thakkar (MAH) 4-1 (61-16, 83-0, 61-54, 32-50, 80-1); Ravi Jaising (MAH) beat Nauzad Munshi (MAH) 4-0 (56-20, 60-31, 69-8, 49-25); Yash Babani (MAH) beat Manav Panchal (MAH) 4-2 (56-14, 69-40, 56-35, 36-67, 39-48, 66-35).

Round 3: Pinak Anap (Pune) beat Khushal Galaiya (MAH) 4-2 (74(46)-17, 54-60, 28-54, 72-8, 74-50, 64-37); Abhijeet Ranade (Pune) beat Yash Babani (MAH) 4-2 (67(52)-10, 45-59, 80-43, 54-55, 40-19, 65-7); Vishwajeet Mohan (UP) beat Taaha Khan (Pune) 4-1 (76(60)-33, 26-53, 90-16, 64-27, 62-34)

Photo Yash: Yash Babani upset seasoned cueist Manav Panchal 4-2 in a second round Senior qualification match

Photo Krishna: Thane’s Krishna Tohgaonkar blanked Mumbai’s Sharad Sharma 4-0, while constructing a break of 79 in the first frame, to enter third round of Senior Qualifier