Date:26/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/26/stories/2007012607462200.htm

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Shravan Mohta gets past Rahul Agarwal

Avinash Nair

BANGALORE: Qualifier Shravan Mohta of Maharashtra is a promising prospect. But he is an impulsive player and often goes for angles that would bemuse many. In the first round of the main draw of the Jain Heights 31st Junior National snooker championship, that is being held concurrently with the Senior event, Mohta struck a purple patch in the first frame for a break of 61 but thereafter disintegrated but eventually defeated Rahul Agarwal (MP) 79-34, 57-47, 41-46, 51-13 at the Bowring Institute's Billiards Hall here on Thursday.

Mohta moved well around the table and positioned himself appreciably to pot from far and near with panache. But the rhythm seemed to desert him in the second frame, which he scrapped through. In the third the south-paw fouled on black to concede the frame to his before steadying himself to claim the fourth on a canter.

Mohta displayed traces of brilliance in his matches thus far but will have to cut on the aggressive instincts against better opposition.

Also struggling to come to terms was top ranked Ajay Bhushan of Karnataka against a non-descript opponent — Charles Thangliana of Mizoram — before eking out a 76-4, 12-48, 37-36, 66-13 victory. Bhushan came up with some exemplary shots only to muff the simple ones.

Balaji Reddy, also from Karnataka, was so sure of his potting ability that he tended to overlook his positioning and landed up in trouble.

The results (qualifying round): Seniors: Ravindran (TN) bt Md. Naeem (UP) 57-31, 58-64, 49-56, 61-21, 60-36; K.S. Naveen Kumar (Kar) w/o Harish Gandhi (MP); Magesh (TN) bt Amiya Ranjan Nayak (Ori) 73-14, 59-26, 37-27; G. Sridhar (AP) bt L. Nagaraj (Kar) 60-53, 25-63, 59-3, 52-03; Brijesh Damani (WB) bt Arun Chabra (Pun) 56-48, 77-00 (B-45), 64-20; Omar Balsara (Mah) bt S. Surendran (TN) 80-08 (39), 45-30, 73-40; Sureet Singh (Ori) bt Md. Arshad (Kar) 67-40, 14-56, 22-52, 63-47, 60-57; S. Shankar Rao (AP) bt Lalu Saldhana (Kar) 51-30, 62-12, 76-20; Pushpender Singh (Del) bt Loganathan (TN) 61-31, 83-23, 62-34; S.A. Saleem (TN) bt Mrinal Modak (Mah) 58-48, 72-45, 75-08; Manish Jain (WB) w/o Umar Humayoon (JK); R. Mahesh (TN) bt Amit Bhushan (Kar) 63-49, 59-48, 75-48; Ravnaq Vazirani (Guj) bt Anand Sharma (Har) 59-17, 62-19, 76-03; Md.Asim (Rlys) bt V. Anand (Kar) 64-73, 45-65, 58-19, 70-17,73-26; Aman Goyal (Har) bt Hasan Badami (Mah) 64-35, 61-44, 58-42; Shahbaaz Adil Khan (WB) bt Naveen (TN) 84-33, 56-58, 60-28, 42-67, 69-37; Vinay Katrela (Kar) bt Satyadeep Das (Ori) 29-51, 48-10, 65-29, 32-55, 70-36; Prem Prakash (TN) bt A.R. Arjun (Kar) 34-61, 65-24, 76-31, 56-15; Madhu Chandra (Kar) bt Easwar Murthy (TN) 52-39, 47-35, 48-37; D. Prakash (AP) bt Sameer Bidwai (Mah) 40-48, 55-38, 57-30, 67-16; C. Ravindranath (Kar) w/o Sumesh Turki (JK); D. Raj Kumar (Kar) bt Anthony (TN) 63-52, 65-09, 65-12; Rishab Pandya (Mah) bt Siddharth Casyab (WB) 69-33, 73-12, 80-30; P. Chandu (AP) bt Jeya Krishna (Kar) 23-62, 62-25, 59-38, 59-33; Chetan Chabra (Har) bt Wasim Ahmed (TN) 65-36, 35-53, 63-33, 54-45; Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) bt Nitin Gupta (Pun) 68-27, 21-50, 59-25, 52-18; Sachin Sancheti (Mah) bt Goutham Kalro (Kar) 57-23, 48-40, 94-58; Sohail Jairaj (Kar) bt Amir Hussain (WB) 16-73, 78-38, 62-26, 67-12; Sidharth Parikh (Rlys) bt I.V. Rajiv (AP) 57-29, 68-18, 9-47, 73-17; S. Boppana (Kar) bt Subrat Das (Ori) 68-61, 55-17, 62-16; Hitesh Soni (Pun) bt Kiran Chawla (Kar) 51-29, 63-23, 46-34; Vijay Nichani (TN) bt M. Srinivas Rao (AP) 57-67, 61-34, 64-24, 67-45; Karan Anand (Mah) bt Krishna Kumar (UP) 82-38, 37-74, 59-53, 73-13.

Juniors: Shravan Mohta (Mah) bt S. Vikram (TN) 68-20, 97-10, 68-08; Rishab Pandya (Mah) bt Reza Merchant (Mah) 76-28, 66-26, 77-24; Abhimanyu Gandhi (MP) bt Vinay Swaminathan (WB) 64-57, 49-47, 74-27; Aamir Hussein (WB) bt Malkit Singh (UP) 68-37, 55-18, 14-60, 68-31.

Main draw: Manish Jain (WB) bt Nitesh Patnaik (Ori) 68-33, 68-16, 67-17; Shivam Arora (Bih) bt Prateek G. Sharma (UP) 58-46, 56-43, 28-57, 67-28; M. Govardhana Rao (AP) bt Md. Raza (Ori) 85-33, 69-25, 45-27; Ashish Kumar (AP) bt Rahul Arora (UP) 55-27, 26-56, 41-63, 60-54, 65-42; Ajay Bhushan (Kar) bt Charles H. Thangliana (Miz) 76-04, 12-48, 37-36, 66-13; Nikhil Kapahi (JK) bt Amit Ahuja (Har) 59-24, 89-09, 78-35; Balaji Reddy (Kar) bt Manek Chabra (Bih) 54-06, 93-14 (B-54), 44-68, 66-11; Himanshu Arora (Raj) bt Sharan Rajani (Kar) 69-32, 47-61, 47-56, 58-51, 61-17; Shravan Mohta (Mah) bt Rahul Agarwal (MP) 79-34 (B-61), 57-47, 41-46, 51-13; J. Pranit (TN) bt Gulshan Keswani (Raj) 65-14, 75-30, 63-21.