Billimoria shocks,Chuganee thrills

It was Daruwala’s experience that helped him snatch the crucial fourth frame to force the decider and keep his hopes alive. It also helped him thwart Billimoria’s cautious approach that included impressive safety play,It was anybody’s decider in a neck-and-neck battle until Billimoria held his nerve to snatch the frame and match on the pink for a 63-57,11-68,59-34,37-53,70-60 win.

Billimoria set the stage for an action-packed day of close encounters as former Bombay Gymkhana president Gulam Vahanvati went down fighting to young Siddharth Sogani of Radio Club 38-70,54-62,57-12,57-20,59-30,after leading 2-0,and Mitang Soni of Vashi upset seasoned Kersie Gandhi of Elphinstone Cricket Club 46-55,65-52,31-62,80-46,51-20 after trailing 1-2,in other five-frame thrillers.

Karan Chuganee of St Mary’s ICSE,all of 15,completed a rewarding day for Bombay Gymkhana cueists following an impressive and exciting 3-2 win over Aakash Kothari of Dombivali Gymkhana.

Playing in only his second significant competition,Chuganee was the cynosure of all eyes with delightful potting and positioning,as he raced to a 2-1 lead and came back strongly in the decider to win it by a 50-point margin.

Yash Rungta of Pune,Chintan Jhaveri of Bombay Gymkhana,Pawan Kohli of Khar Gymkhana and Mayur Sanghi of Willingdon Sports Club were the other significant winners of the day.

Results: Mehernosh Billimoria (Bombay Gym) bt Rohinton Daruwala (PJ Hindu Gym) 63-57,11-68,59-34,37-53,70-60; Siddharth Sogani (Radio Club) bt Gulam Vahanvati (Bombay Gym) 38-70,54-62,57-12,57-20,59-30; Chintan Jhaveri (Bombay Gym) bt Nandan Patel (Guj) 60-11,89(44)-51,69-42; Pawan Kohli (Khar Gym) bt Sameer Sanghvi (Bombay Gym) 70-50,23-56,76-36,51-18; Mayur Sanghi (Willingdon SC) bt Nilesh Bhojwani (Vashi) 51-16,42-57,52-14,57-19; Yash Rungta (Pune) bt Kekoo Nicholson (CCI) 49-38,50-22,56-20; Mitang Soni (Vashi) bt Kersie Gandhi (Elphinstone CC) 46-55,65-52,31-62,80-46,51-20; Rahul Narang (North Indian Assn) bt Avinash Gaikwad (Mazagaon Dock) 67-54,47-33,49-59,73-27; Karan Chuganee (Bombay Gym) bt Aakash Kothari (Dombivali Gym) 40-64,57-34,60-25,21-45,72-22; Harish Pahuja (Khar Gym) bt Harsh Thacker (Mulund) 50-51,60-52,58-25,45-62,65-62. Billimoria may have started the day as an underdog but he made the most of home conditions to shock favourite Rohinton Daruwala for the second upset in the Bombay Gymkhana ‘Strokes’ Snooker Invitational Open Tournament on Wednesday.

Bombay Gymkhana’s Billimoria won the opening frame in an exciting black ball finish to rattle the formidable Daruwala of PJ Hindu Gymkhana in the best-of-five frames contest. The early deficit seemed to have upset Daruwala’s rhythm as Billimoria chose to play his natural game sans the heroics and led 2-1.

It was Daruwala’s experience that helped him snatch the crucial fourth frame to force the decider and keep his hopes alive. It also helped him thwart Billimoria’s cautious approach that included impressive safety play,It was anybody’s decider in a neck-and-neck battle until Billimoria held his nerve to snatch the frame and match on the pink for a 63-57,11-68,59-34,37-53,70-60 win.

Billimoria set the stage for an action-packed day of close encounters as former Bombay Gymkhana president Gulam Vahanvati went down fighting to young Siddharth Sogani of Radio Club 38-70,54-62,57-12,57-20,59-30,after leading 2-0,and Mitang Soni of Vashi upset seasoned Kersie Gandhi of Elphinstone Cricket Club 46-55,65-52,31-62,80-46,51-20 after trailing 1-2,in other five-frame thrillers.

Karan Chuganee of St Mary’s ICSE,all of 15,completed a rewarding day for Bombay Gymkhana cueists following an impressive and exciting 3-2 win over Aakash Kothari of Dombivali Gymkhana.

Playing in only his second significant competition,Chuganee was the cynosure of all eyes with delightful potting and positioning,as he raced to a 2-1 lead and came back strongly in the decider to win it by a 50-point margin.

Yash Rungta of Pune,Chintan Jhaveri of Bombay Gymkhana,Pawan Kohli of Khar Gymkhana and Mayur Sanghi of Willingdon Sports Club were the other significant winners of the day.

Results: Mehernosh Billimoria (Bombay Gym) bt Rohinton Daruwala (PJ Hindu Gym) 63-57,11-68,59-34,37-53,70-60; Siddharth Sogani (Radio Club) bt Gulam Vahanvati (Bombay Gym) 38-70,54-62,57-12,57-20,59-30; Chintan Jhaveri (Bombay Gym) bt Nandan Patel (Guj) 60-11,89(44)-51,69-42; Pawan Kohli (Khar Gym) bt Sameer Sanghvi (Bombay Gym) 70-50,23-56,76-36,51-18; Mayur Sanghi (Willingdon SC) bt Nilesh Bhojwani (Vashi) 51-16,42-57,52-14,57-19; Yash Rungta (Pune) bt Kekoo Nicholson (CCI) 49-38,50-22,56-20; Mitang Soni (Vashi) bt Kersie Gandhi (Elphinstone CC) 46-55,65-52,31-62,80-46,51-20; Rahul Narang (North Indian Assn) bt Avinash Gaikwad (Mazagaon Dock) 67-54,47-33,49-59,73-27; Karan Chuganee (Bombay Gym) bt Aakash Kothari (Dombivali Gym) 40-64,57-34,60-25,21-45,72-22; Harish Pahuja (Khar Gym) bt Harsh Thacker (Mulund) 50-51,60-52,58-25,45-62,65-62.