Chapman humbles Merchant

June 11:England's Roxton Chapman displayed awesome form to beat India's lone professional Yasin Merchant 4-1 and enhanced his chances of qu...

June 11:England8217;s Roxton Chapman displayed awesome form to beat India8217;s lone professional Yasin Merchant 4-1 and enhanced his chances of qualifying for the snooker quarter-finals from Group C in the 3rd Alpic Om Agrawal Billiards and Snooker Tournament at the Cricket Club of India today.

Yasin had his chances but surprisingly blew them, as a consistent Chapman built up the pressure to hold charge of the proceedings. The Indian8217;s potting was below par and he missed a couple of blacks on the spot.Yasin drew level with runs of 45 and 48 in the second frame after Chapman raced to a 129-0 opening frame win with a break of 113. Yasin did have his chances in the fifth frame but his hopes of keeping the match alive faded as he continued to miss easy pots.

Meanwhile, Sarang Shroff stunned Geet Sethi in a Group B encounter by winning the last two frames after being down 2-3. The win was all the more creditable for Sarang as Sethi had unleashed a 131-break in the fifth frame, but the Mumbai cueist still managed a comeback.

RESULTS breaks in brackets:

Group A: Subash Agrawal bt Amit Khansaheb 4-1 53-65 Amit 42, 75-32, 64-58, 63-31, 70-47; Subhash Agrawal bt D McKenzie 4-3 78-6 Subhash 39, 29-61, 26-53, 43-23, 53-51 Subhash 38, 27-71, 59-19

Group B: Geeth Sethi bt R Thukral 4-1: 71-38 Geet 40, 62-74 Geet 46, 84-37, 78-58, 65-41; Rafat Habib bt Varuan Taneja 4-0 57-24, 65-26 Habib 34, 60-23 Habib 32, 65-22; Sarang Shroff bt Geet Sethi 4-3: 44-80 Geet 40, 72-60 Geet 32, 33-85, 61-22 Shroff 39, 1-131 Geet 131, 80-0 Shroff 32, 75-33

Group C: Ashok Shandilya bt Roxton Chapman 4-2 73-11, 48-72, 77-32, 50-79 Ashok 36, Roxton 33, 34, 55-43 Ashok 33, 76-26 Ashok 47; Nalin Patel bt Dharmender Lilly 4-3 85-35 Patel 66, 73-33 Patel 40, 14-88 Lilly 39, 60-46, 13-83 Lilly 49, 43-65, 79-40; Roxton Chapman bt Yasin Merchant 4-1 129-nil Roxton 113 unfinished, 38-93 Roxton 38, Yasin 45, 48, 59-56 Roxton 41, 51-14

Group D: S Rao bt Irfan Mirza 4-2 74-39, 2-79 Mirza 47, 51-60 Rao 43, 74-15, 61-15, 71-56 Mirza 32; Alok Kumar bt Manav Panchal 4-0 69-14, 62-50, 75-12 Alok 60, 73-22; Siddhartha Rao bt Devendra Joshi 4-1 81-38 Rao 41, 60-80 Rao 35, Joshi 54, 68-52 Rao 67, Joshi 52, 72-56 Rao 35, 59-18 Rao 30