Parikh fires 91 break to tame Sharma; Sidraj overcomes Dossa
A charged up Siddharth Parikh of Indian Railways hogged the limelight hitting a big one, constructing a substantial break of 91 during his 3-1 win against Viren Sharma in the best-of-five frame third round match in the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2018, and played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones Billiards Room, on Saturday afternoon.
The seasoned pro Parikh took time to settle down and lost the opening frame before he came into his own and thereafter potted fluently to run away with the match. He tamely lost the first, but comfortably won the next two before firing on all cylinders in the third, constructing a break of 91, the highest in the competition at the moment, to complete a 33-64, 61-2, 59-10 and 107-0 victory.
Earlier in a battle between Cricket Club of India cueists, Sidraj Shah staved off a spirited fight back from Nishant Dossa to clinch a hard-fought 3-2 win. Shah started on a promising note by winning the first two frames very convincingly and looked set to wrap up the win.
But, Dossa proved to be a sticky customer as he with some clever play gradually worked his way back into contention. He won the third by a close margin and then easily took the fourth to push the match into the decider.
In the tense fifth frame, Shah did well to hold his nerves to come through and seal a 75-38, 92-32, 45-54, 8-52, 66-59 win to advance to the next round.
However, Hassan Badami also of Cricket Club of India enjoyed a slender 2-1 lead, but was unable to sustain the momentum and crashed to a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Anand Raghuvanshi of P.J. Hindu Gymkhana. Facing exit, Raghuvanshi produced a solid effort making a break of 72 to win the fourth frame to level scores and went on to snatch a tight win in the fifth to script a 68-47, 47-55, 21-71, 723, 66-52 victory.
Railway cueists, Rafat Habib and Shoaibh Khan, also took off on the right track recording comfortable wins in their second-round matches. Habib got the better of Manan Shah of Malabar Hill Club 3-1 (15-52, 63-33, 55-15, 67-16), while Shoabh blanked Neville Razmi of Radio Club 3-0 (57-35, 82(47)-5, 66-32) to progress to the third round.
RESULTS (THIRD ROUND):
Kanish Jhanjharia (MP) vs Ashutosh Padhy 3-0 (57-22, 81-58, 21-6); Jaison Malhotra (Delhi) bt Ibrahim Sheikh (Borvali) 3-2 (36-55, 58-15, 74-19, 20-59, 78-66); Sidraj Shah (CCI) bt Nishant Dossa (CCI) 3-2 (75-38, 92-32, 4554, 8-52, 66-59); Siddharth Parikh (Rly) bt Viren Sharma 3-1 (33-64, 61-2, 59-10, 107(91)-0); Anand Raghuvanshi (PJHG) bt Hassan Badami (CCI) 3-2 (6847, 47-55, 21-71, 72(72)-3, 66-52).
SECOND ROUND: Rajat Khaneja (Chandigarh) vs Amit Parashar (Pune) 3-1 (65-21, 65-0, 39-49, 54-26); Venkatesh (Rly) bt Rohan Kothare (BSAA) 3-0 (93(71)-24, 79-32, 64-23); Arvind Kumar (Rly) bt Gaurav M Jaisinghani (Vashi) 3-1 (77-23, 56-14, 36-61, 54-24); Laxman Rawat (PSPB) bt Anas Chandiwala (Secunderabad) 3-0 (68-43, 76(59)-6, 78-41); Akshay Kumar (UP) bt Shaikh Najeeb Ahmed (KSBA) 3-0 (52-33, 78(43)-38, 72(48)-17); Rafat Habib (Rly) bt Manan Shah (Malabar Hill Club) 3-1 (15-52, 63-33, 55-15, 67(41)-16); Shoabh Khan (Rly) bt Neville Razmi (Radio Club) 3-0 (57-35, 82(47)-5, 66-32); Bharat Sissodia (MP) bt V. Subramanian (Matunga Gym) 3-2 (32-54, 5-83, 63-38, 83-37, 59-12); Rafat Habib (Rly) bt Manan Shah (Malabar Hill Club) 3-1 (15-52, 63-33, 55-15, 67(41)-16).