Girish prevails,Rajiv upsets

R Girish of Railways and Rajiv Sharma of Mumbai earned exciting 4-3 wins to enter the pre-quarterfinals in the Islam Gymkhana-BSAM.in Open Snooker Tournament on Tuesday.

Girish,one of the favourites for the title,rallied from 1-2 and 2-3 deficits to take the match away from young Bombay Gymkhana cueist Aditya Agrawal. He eventually won 49-7,24-58,30-65,72-29,47-66,75-9,61-27. A break of 51 in the crucial sixth frame proved decisive for Girish,who went onto take a significant lead in the decider that left a gallant Agrawal helpless.

Meanwhile,Malabar Hill’s Sharma halted the charge of India senior No. 5 and junior No. 2 Himanshu Jain of Andhra Pradesh with a 30-53,48-28,60-49,65-28,5-72,52-54,72-60 win in another thriller that went down to the wire. This despite starting out as a clear-cut underdog in the contest. Sharma surged to a surprise 3-1 lead before Jain came back brilliantly to force the decider. The underdog prevailed,however,in a photo finish that included a stunning black ball closure in the crucial sixth frame.

Manish Jain of West Bengal,Faisal Khan of Railways and Devendra Joshi of BPCL were the others to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Results

Elite Group A: R Girish (Rlys) bt Aditya Agrawal (Bombay Gym) 49-7,24-58,30-65,72-29,47-66,75(51)-9,61-27; Manish Jain (West Bengal) bt Manav Panchal (Malabar Hill Club) 47-73,51-30,52-44,60-15,50-51,54-27; Rajiv Sharma (Malabar Hill Club) bt Himanshu Jain (AP) 30-53,48-28,60-49,65-28,5-72,52-54,72-60; Faisal Khan (Rlys) bt Jaiveer Dhingra (PJ Hindu Gym) 66-28,68-31,92-15,36-74,69-46; Devendra Joshi (BPCL) bt Hitesh Kotwani (CCI) 68-28,54-19,70-10,61-20.

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