ALL INDIA 9 BALL POOL TOURNAMENT 2016
12-yr-old Mago dazzles
08-Sep-2016
Sumehr Mago
Twelve-year-old Sumehr Mago of Khar Gymkhana fashioned three back-to-back wins to storm into the second phase, in the Otters Club All India 9-Ball Pool Tournament, on Thursday.
Mago, the youngest player in the competition, who narrowly lost his opening tie 6-7, made amends in a spectacular run in the double elimination round in Group C. The Beacon High School lad, steadily crept back into the fray when he initiated a stunning comeback with a 7-4 win over Ankit Rawasa of Lions Pool Club, Mulund, an exciting 7-6 win over Pune’s Nimesh Kulkarni and saved the best for the last when he overcame a 1-4 deficit to stun the experienced Sumit Devgan, also of Lions Club, 7-5.
Devgan raced to that envious advantage with three ‘plants’, connections that fetched him the prized 9-ball, before Mago surged to a surprise 6-5 lead and ended a dream run with a ‘plant’, via the blue (2).
Joining Mago in the next round were Zubin Leninwala of Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana from Group C, and Hitanshu Manchanda of Delhi and former national swim champion Yudhishthir Jaising of the host club from Group D.
Results: Group C: Zubin Leninwala bt Sumit Devgan 7-6; Leninwala bt Bhavesh Pol 7-6; Devgan bt Nimesh Kulkarni 7-6; Leninwala bt Ankit Rawasa 7-3; Pol bt Sumehr Mago 7-6; Devgan bt Vinay Nachanka 7-4; Nimesh Kulkarni bt Akhil Rajani 7-2.
Double Elimination: Mago bt Devgan 7-5; Devgan bt Rajani 7-4; Rajani bt Pol 7-3; Mago bt Kulkarni 7-6; Rajani w/o Nachanka; Mago bt Rawasa 7-4.
Group D: Yudhishthir Jaising bt Santosh Halde 7-2; Jaising bt Hitanshu Manchanda 7-5; Santosh Halde bt Arun Madhu 7-4; Jaising bt Durgesh Waknis 7-3; Manchanda bt Chintu Bora 7-1; Halde bt Vishal Bhogle 7-2; Madhu bt Abhishek Bora 7-4.
Double Elimination: Manchanda bt Halde 7-0; Manchanda bt Madhu 7-2; Manchanda bt Bhogle 7-3; Madhu bt Waknis 7-6; Bhogle bt Abhishek Bora 7-5; Waknis bt Chintu Bora 7-5.