Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Open Handicap Snooker Tournament.
Saigal sails ahead
Top junior Nikhil Saigal of Khar Gymkhana endured an early challenge before sailing into the elite round, in the Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Snooker Tournament on Monday.
2014 state junior billiards champion Saigal halted Poras Shah of Matunga Gymkhana with a 4-2 win after dropping the second and fourth frames and dominating the remainder of the match in the best-of-seven contest.
Surya Prakash Singh of Kalyan, who kicked off his gruelling campaign since the first round of the competition, was rewarded with a berth in the final phase following a convincing 4-1 win over Prabdeep Singh of MIG. The others to join in were Nalin Patel of Bombay Gymkhana and Sunil Jain of Elphinstone Cricket Club.
Results:
2nd Phase: Final qualifying rd: Pratyush Somayajula bt Vimal Thakkar 39-26, 41-29, 44-29, 40-17; Nalin Patel bt Raj Khandwala 46-20, 58-26, 51-24, 43-35; Vishal Vaya bt Ajit Kobnak 23-52, 58-24, 46-33, 28-42, 49-35, 57-31; Surya Prakash Singh bt Prabdeep Singh 64-48, 46-35, 58-33, 33-45, 62-37; Ajinkya Yelve bt Karan Mangat 47-29, 60-8, 47-39, 43-22; Nikhil Saigal bt Poras Shah 48-16, 19-45, 53-21, 37-47, 59-17, 49-8; Sunil Jain bt Pankaj Khatri 45-68, 42-22, 49-37, 22-44, 53-21, 55-23.
1st Rd: Vishal Vaya bt Abhijeet Ranade 44-21, 10-43, 20-56, 48-37, 46-34, 48-22; Pankaj Khatri bt Vilas Upsham 43-8, 51-36, 40-15, 34-47, 39-9; V. Subramanian bt Sparsh Pherwani 46-26, 48-40, 33-45, 17-48, 48-11, 47-19.