ALL INDIA 9 BALL POOL TOURNAMENT 2016
Vashi’s Akhil Syed wins a thriller
10-Sep-2016
Akhil Sayed
Akhil Sayed of Vashi rallied to a thrilling 7-6 win to storm into the second round, in the Otters Club All India 9-Ball Pool Tournament, on Sunday.
After losing to NSCI marker Anthony Menezes in the winners bracket, Syed fashioned three back-to-back wins in the double elimination round to qualify from Group M along with Abhishek Bajaj of NSCI who made it from the winners’ bracket.
Syed ignored the setback and initiated a rewarding journey as he beat Arpit Seth of Delhi 7-3 and Shakshat Maniyar of Lions Sports Club, Mulund 7-0. Staring at defeat while trailing 1-5, Syed avenged his earlier loss to Menezes with a nail-biting 7-6 win following a ‘plant’ off the blue (2), after trailing 1-5, as he snatched three racks in a row from 4-6.
Rohan Shahani of Khar Gymkhana and Bharat Sisodia of Madhya Pradesh qualified from Group K, while Malkeet Singh of Railways and Amol Abdagiri of Pune made it from Group N.
Results: Group K: Rohan Shahani bt Kishore Laungani 7-2, Laungani bt Rahul Kolekar 7-5; Shahani bt Saumil Karkera 7-4; Karkera bt Kushal Gandhi 7-5; Shahani bt Azam Khan 7-3; Kolekar bt Gaurav Singh 7-3; Laungani bt Bharat Sisodia 7-4.
Double Elimination: Sisodia bt Laungani 7-4; Sisodia bt Karkera 7-5; Khant bt Kolekar 7-3; Khant bt Gandhi 7-4; Sisodia bt Singh 7-5.
Group M: Abhishek Bajaj bt Anthony Menezes 7-3; Menezes bt Akhil Sayed 7-5; Bajaj bt Shakshat Maniyar 7-0; Menezes w/o Bhupinder Singh; Sayed bt Suchitra Binda 7-4; Maniyar w/o Vishal Singh; Bajaj bt Arpit Seth 7-4.
Double Elimination: Sayed bt Menezes 7-6; Sayed bt Maniyar 7-0; Sayed bt Seth 7-3; Maniyar bt Binda 7-2; Binda w/o Bhupinder Singh; Seth w/o Vishal Singh.
Group N: Malkeet Singh bt Amol Abdagiri 7-3; Singh bt Krishinam Vohra 7-4; Abdagiri bt Siddhesh Margaj 7-4; Singh bt Dhiraj Dhuri 7-5; Vohra w/o Manmeet Bhatia; Nilesh Sangar bt Margaj 7-5; Abdagiri w/o Zeeshan Siddique.
Double Elimination: Abdagiri bt Sangar 7-4; Sangar bt Dhuri 7-4; Sangar bt Krishinam 7-4; Dhuri bt Margaj 7-3; Dhuri w/o Bhatia; Sangar w/o Siddique.