Matunga Gymkhana-Dadar Club Open Snooker Tournament: Bijlani snatches black-ball thriller

Sanji Bijlani

Sanji Bijlani

Sanjiv Bijlani of Park Club rallied from a 1-2 deficit to win the decider on the black ball in a nail-biting first round, in the Matunga Gymkhana-Dadar Club Open Snooker Tournament on Saturday.

Bijlani was taken by surprise when Ameya Kalekar of Kolhapur went ahead after winning the first and third frames in the best-of-five contest. He relied on experience to prevent an upset as he forced the decider and took the match away on the black in a thrilling finish.

In another first round encounter that went the distance, 14-year-old schoolboy Sparsh Pherwani of Podar International and Khar Gymkhana endured a strong challenge before overcoming Neeta Sanghavi, the only lady cueist in the competition, after trailing 1-2.

The significant first round winners were Farhad Tengra of Elphinstone Cricket Club, Ankit Thacker of Matunga Gymkhana and Nimish Kulkarni of PYC, Pune. The notable loser was Jeet Gawde of Shivaji Park Gymkhana.

Results: 1st Rd: Waseem Shah (ISA) bt Naresh Sadarangani (Matunga Gym) 62-28, 43-63, 57-13, 56-8; Bapu Gaikwad bt Anwar Shaikh 55-36, 36-43, 57-10, 40-74, 44-30; Ankit Thacker (Matunga Gym) bt Darryl Dias 75-31, 56-22, 54-31; Akshay Waghchaure bt Deepak Ahire 53-49, 60-27, 73-15; Sanket Bapat (SPG) bt S.B. Shinde 40-24, 39-30, 37-33; Farhad Tengra (Elphinstone CC) bt Mandar Joshi 60-27, 57-2, 63-31; Nimish Kulkarni (PYC, Pune) bt Umesh Bhogle 51-7, 48-2, 60-16; Rajan Gupta bt Navnath Waghmare 58-26, 59-27, 56-45; Rohit Khatavkar bt Chinmay Gawde 57-11, 37-29, 53-40; Ibrahim Motiwala (Solapur) bt Rohit Sardeshmukh (Thane) 59-37, 61-6, 63-59; Sanjiv Bijlani (Park Club) bt Ameya Kalekar (Kolhapur) 18-65, 58-34, 26-59, 45-30, 53-50; Yogesh Pawar bt Ambarish Gharpure 51-11, 61-21, 57-5; Sparsh Pherwani (Khar Gym) bt Neeta Sanghavi (Willingdon SC) 12-51, 49-14, 11-66, 71-41, 56-44; Karan Cheddha bt Jeet Gawde (SPG) 36-60, 53-29, 45-35, 55-29.

Edited by Staff Editor