Matunga Gymkhana-Dadar Club Open Snooker Tournament: Pune’s Joshi escapes to victory

Rajwardhan Joshi

Rajwardhan Joshi of PYC, Pune survived a scare before escaping to an exciting 3-2 win, in the first round of the Matunga Gymkhana-Dadar Club Open Snooker Tournament on Sunday.

Joshi, the junior billiards runner-up in the Maharashtra State Selection tournament, led 2-1 after dropping the opening frame against a determined Sushrut Pandia of PJ Hindu Gymkhana.

Ignoring the deficit, Pandia forced the decider in brilliant fashion when he snatched the crucial fourth frame in a thrilling black-ball finish to keep his hopes alive. Only a slender lead gave Joshi the edge in the final frame of the best-of-five contest.

In contrast, state selection sub junior snooker champion Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Bombay Gymkhana began his campaign in the competition with a 3-0 win.

The significant losers were Rishad Bharda and Rayyan Razmi, both of Elphinstone Cricket Club.

Results: 2nd Rd: Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Bombay Gym) bt Junaid Syed 55-30, 67-56, 57-26.

1st Rd: Nadim Mullani bt Ashwin Deshmukh (Dadar Club) 46-28, 14-60, 65-44, 51-43; Ajay Makwana bt Rishad Bharda (Elphinstone CC) 25-39, 56-44, 55-44, 65-13; Carl Serrao (Catholic Gym) bt Anil Choudhari 53-12, 66-32, 61-23; Chintamani Jadhav bt Rayyan Razmi (Elphinstone CC) 56-3, 42-51, 54-45, 68-36; Rajwardhan Joshi (PYC, Pune) bt Sushrut Pandia (PJ Hindu Gym) 50-60, 64-22, 63-18, 56-63, 51-34; Ramesh Sadarangani (Matunga Gym) bt Anil Sagar 46-74, 63-30, 53-43, 49-75, 62-13; Amit Thakkar (Matunga Gym) bt Hardik Vyas (North Indian Assn) 56-26, 54-44, 64-51; M. Billimoria bt Amogh Bandichod 59-13, 51-15, 52-30; Darshan Shah bt Pramod Pol 55-54, 74-62, 52-64, 62-54; Karan Mangat bt Rohit Pandlaskar 72-34, 50-20, 71-15; Abhishek Doshi bt Akil Syed 73-49, 59-41, 43-57, 47-60, 65-21; Rebanta Sahijwani (Khar Gym) bt Surya Prakash 56-39, 62-42, 54-48; Amol Abdagiri (Deccan Gym, Pune) bt Chandrashekhar Singh 50-36, 41-18, 50-65, 82-62; Ashit Pandya (Dombivli Gym) bt Mazhar Roowala 61-49, 58-43.