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Deependra Pinkyar shocked V. ‘Raja’ Subramanian, while Arun Agrawal’s double century break went in vain, in the elite round robin of the SPG-Park Club Open Billiards Handicap Tournament on Wednesday.
Pinkyar of Shivaji Park Gymkhana was rewarded for consistency and held on to overcome formidable Subramanian of Matunga Gymkhana that threw Group G wide open where Subramanian also has a win to his credit.
While Subramanian, playing with a -300 handicap, hit breaks of 60 and 57, Pinkyar, playing with a -10 handicap, thrived on small breaks to stay ahead to fashion one of the most significant upsets in the competition.
In the other upset of the day, young Kabil Badami of Bombay Gymkhana, playing with a -20 handicap, stunned state senior champion Arun Agrawal for his second win in Group D to seal his place in the knock out pre-quarter-finals.
Agrawal, fired a sensational break of 225 and added 127 but could not use it to his advantage against Badami. Agrawal and Mahesh Jagdale will clash in the concluding group tie in a must-win contest that will decide the second qualifier.
Shekhar Surve of Shivaji Park Gymkhana also entered the pre-quarter-finals from Group F when he prevailed over Sunil Jain of Elphinstone Cricket Club for his second win. Aditya Agrawal of PJ Hindu Gymkhana joined Surve following his win over Jain.
Junior India No. 1 Dhvaj Haria of Ahmedabad lived up to his reputation with back-to-back wins to qualify from E. Haria’s effort included brilliant breaks of 146 and 90 against Manoj Kasare of Khar Gymkhana and 101, 210 and an unfinished 74 against Farhad Tengra of Elphinstone Cricket Club.
Meanwhile, stalwarts Subhash Agrawal and Ashok Shandilya emphasised their passion for the sport was still alive when they kicked off their campaigns with impressive wins in their opening group ties. Shandilya’s effort included breaks of 108, 80 and 70 in his win over septuagenarian and former great Prakash Rajani of Khar Gymkhana in Group A.
Results: Elite Round Robin: Group A: Ashok Shandilya (-600, SPG) bt Prakash Rajani (scr, Khar Gym) 250(108,80,70)-180.
Group D: Kabil Badami (-20, Bombay Gym) bt Arun Agrawal (-550, Matunga Gym) 250(47)-121(225, 127).
Group E: Dhvaj Haria (-350, Guj) bt Manoj Kasare (-20, Matunga Gym) 250(146,90)-132; Dhvaj Haria bt Farhad Tengra (-150, Elphinstone CC) 250(101,210,74unf)-31.
Group F: Aditya Agrawal (-300, PJ Hindu Gym) bt Sunil Jain (-30, Elphinstone CC) 250(85,70,70,60)-229; Shekhar Surve (-70, SPG) bt Sunil Jain 250-182.
Group G: Deependra Pinkyar (-10, SPG) bt V. ‘Raja’ Subramanian (-300, Matunga Gym) 250-189(60,57).
Group H: Subhash Agrawal (-250, SPG) bt Yash Rungta (-30, Kandivli) 250-194.
