ALL INDIA 9 BALL POOL TOURNAMENT 2016
Badami, Madan advance
07-Sep-2016
Hasan Badami
Nitesh Madan of Railways and Hasan Badami of Mumbai registered exciting wins to enter the second phase of the Otters Club All India 9-Ball Pool Tournament, on Wednesday.
Islam Gymkhana’s Badami endured a stiff challenge from Madan in the concluding match of the winner’s bracket and escaped to a nail-biting 7-6 win in Group B. Badami led 3-0 and 5-3 before Madan levelled at 3-all and surged to a surprise 6-5 lead. Badami restored parity before winning the decider in the race-to-seven racks contest and forced Madan into the double elimination round.
Madan made amends in the double elimination round when he kept his hopes alive in the competition following a narrow 7-5 win over Hanish Sharma of Delhi who experienced a busy afternoon while winning three back-to-back ties in the double elimination before being halted by Madan.
Monu Choudhary of Delhi eased past Mahesh Jagdale of Elphinstone CC, Mumbai 7-3 to enter the second phase from Group A. After going down to Choudhary, seasoned Jagdale also kept his hopes alive when he made it to the second phase following a 7-2 win over Kreish Gurbaxani of Khar Gymkhana from the double elimination round.
With Rs. 15,000 assured for the 14 players entering the main draw, the winner will receive a whopping Rs. 2.25 lakh and runner-up Rs. 1.5 lakh. In addition, the semi-finalists will receive Rs. 70,000 each, quarter-finalists Rs. 40,000 and pre-quarter-finalists Rs. 25,000 each.
India No. 1 Himanshu Jain and No. 2 Shahbaaz Khan, veterans Alok Kumar and Dharminder Lilly and 8-Ball national champion Sundeep Gulati are among the significant players in the main draw who will also be joined by the Otters Club quartet of Yasin Merchant, Zenul Arsiwala, Abhimanyu Gandhi and Rishabh Thakker, and one of England’s leading ladies Kelly Fisher, who is no stranger to Mumbai, having finished runners-up to compatriot and then world champion Lisa Quick in the CCI Ladies Invitation Snooker in 2001.
Results: Group A: Monu Choudhary bt Mahesh Jagdale 7-3; Monu Choudhary bt Kreish Gurbaxani 7-4; Mahesh Jagdale bt Ninad Ghag 7-4; Monu Choudhary bt Akash Asrani 7-2; Kreish Gurbaxani bt Nabil Lakdawala 7-3; Ninad Ghag bt Divyanshu Sharma 7-6.
Double Elimination: Mahesh Jagdale bt Daval Karia 7-2; Mahesh Jagdale bt Kreish Gurbaxani 7-2; Kreish Gurbaxani bt Ninad Ghag 7-6; Ninad Ghag bt Akash Asrani 7-5; Kreish Gurbaxani bt Divyashu Sharma 7-3; Akash Asrani bt Nabil Lakdawala 7-3, Divyashu Sharma bt Daval Karia 7-0.
Group B: Hasan Badami bt Nitesh Madan 7-6; Hasan Badami bt Mitesh Thakur 7-3; Nitesh Madan bt Manoj Kasare 7-2; Nitesh Madan bt Ameya Chavan 7-2; Manoj Kasare bt Reshad Asrani 7-2; Mitesh Thakur bt Hanish Sharma 7-6; Hasan Badami bt Adnan Gani 7-1.
Double Elimination: Nitesh Madan bt Hanish Sharma 7-5; Hanish Sharma bt Mitesh Thakur 7-3; Hanish Sharma bt Manoj Kasare 7-4; Mitesh Thakur bt Ameya Chavan 7-1; Hanish Sharma bt Adnan Gani 7-3; Ameya Chavan bt Reshad Asrani 7-1.