Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Rupesh Shah rallies past Nikhil Ootam

MUMBAI: Rupesh Shah overcame a 1-2 deficit to register a 3-2 win over Nikhil Ootam in the Khar Gymkhana-Shyam Shroff memorial open snooker tournament being held at the Khar Gymkhana here.

The cueist from Gujarat came off second best to his Mumbai rival till the third frame which was highlighted by a stunning 79 break. Nikhil slipped in the fourth even as Rupesh clawed back. The latter went on to win the fifth to take the match 54-39, 45-82, 5-94, 61-19, 73-30.

Among the big names, Alok Kumar notched up the first century break of the event, an unfinished 109 at the start, setting the tone for domination over Mumbai youngster Rishabh Pandya. The Punjab cueist and India No. 5 won 3-0.

Aditya Mehta was another local player to display top form, missing a century break by just three points in the third frame.

The India No. 2 downed Faizal Khan of Railways 59-40, 76-32, 98-2 in another group tie.

Pankaj Advani warmed up for stiffer contests with a 3-0 victory over Kamal Chawla of Railways. The Petroleum Sports Control Board ace managed 98 in the third frame.

The results:

Group A: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Neeraj Kumar (Bihar) 91(40)-1, 85(49)-24, 74-27; Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Kamal Chawla (Rlys) 75-22, 67-50, 1-63, 55-22; Pankaj Advani bt Kamal Chawla 80-51, 78-15, 99(98)-0, Neeraj Kumar (Bih) bt Shravan Mohta (Nagpur) 20-60, 65-51, 71-60, 20-71(53), 78-2.

Group B: Rupesh Shah (Guj) bt Faizal Khan (Rlys) 76(51)-7, 71-24, 65-23; Aditya Mehta (Mumbai) bt Faizal Khan 59-40, 76(56)-32, 98(97)-2; Rupesh bt Nikhil Ootam (Mum) 54-39, 45-82, 5-94(79), 61-19, 73-30.

Group C: Yasin Merchant (Mum) bt Rafath Habib (Rlys) 70-49, 78-44, 67-1.

Group D: Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Marzdi Kalyaniwala (Mum) 71-14, 78-56, 65(65)-71(44, 27), 59-28; Alok Kumar (Punjab) bt Rishabh Pandya (Mum) 109(109)-23, 60-25, 64-28. — Special Correspondent

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