BSAM PRESENTS THE CHEMBUR GYMKHANA BILLIARDS LEAGUE 2017
Carl’s determined effort secures semi-final spot for Catholic Gym
04-Jul-2017
Carl Serrao
Mumbai: Showing great character and playing with solid determination and willpower, Carl Serrao stole the thunder as he produced an unflinching effort to subdue the highly experienced Mahesh Jagdale in the crucial third frame, which enabled Catholic ‘Decapitare’ (Catholic Gymkhana) turn things around and secure a sensational win against ECC ‘Elfie Star’ (Elphinstone CC) in an engrossing quarter-final round match of the BSAM-The Chembur Gymkhana Billiards League 2017. Catholic Gymkhana (+120 handicap) managed to scrape past Elphinstone Club (+75) by a 632-580 points margin, at The Chembur Gymkhana billiards hall, late on Monday evening.
Elphinstone started promisingly by winning the first two frames rather comfortably to take a stronghold on the match. First, Sunil Jain (+25) defeated Melwyn Mascarenhas (+35) 200-162 and later Anurag Bagri (+60) put it across Derek Sippy (+50) 200-150 to put Elphinstone in a good winning position. Jagdale (-10) was left with a modest target of scoring 157 points in the last frame against Carl (+40), who had to score 200 points.
But, Carl showed no sign of nerves as he played bravely and did not rush with his shots. He played a calculated game by gradually accumulating points and at the same time not providing his seasoned opponent Jagdale, many opportunities to get a look in. The cool headed Carl constructed a break of 41 initially and with multiple small breaks established quite a sizeable 153-77 lead before he rolled in another neat effort of 27 points to put himself on the road to victory. With Jagdale unable to fire in any substantial breaks, Carl went on to race to a 200-105 win which put Catholic Gymkhana in the penultimate round.
In another quarter-final match, Devendra Joshi and Ankit Thakkar, both lived upto expectations to guide MG ‘Partysians’ (Matunga Gymkhana) to victory against PJHG ‘Probables’ (Hindu Gymkhana) by 456-440 points. Matunga Gymkhana started with a combined team handicap of +35 as compared to Hindu Gymkhan’s low +5 handicap.
Seasoned pro Devendra Joshi (-80) tamed Rovin D’Souza (+25) by 200-62 points in the first frame to give Matunga Gymkhana the advantage. In the second frame, Hindu Gymkhana’s Siddharth Parikh (-90), who has been in great form compiled a break of 102 in beating Shailesh Rao (+70) 200-21 to give his team a fighting chance. But in the third frame, Ankit Thakkar (+45) with the help of two useful breaks of 56 and 36 raced to victory by 200-173 points to overcome Shyam Kotak (+70) who had to score 189 points for a win.
Results (pre-quarter-finals):
Catholic 'Decapitare' (+120) beat ECC 'Elfie Stars' (+75) -- 632-580 : (Melwyn Mascarenhas (+30) lost to Sunil Jain (+25) 162-200(47); Derek Sippy (+50) lost to Anurag Bagri (+60) 150-200; Carl Serrao (+40) bt Mahesh Jagdale (-10) 200-105).
MG 'Partysians' (+35) beat PJHG 'Probables' (+5) -- 456-440 : (Devendra Joshi (-80) bt Rovin D'Souza (+25) 200-62; Shailesh Rao (+70) lost to Siddharth Parikh (-90) 21-200(102); Ankit Thakkar (+45) bt Shyam Kotak (+70) 200(56,36)-173).