Pune : Local contender Vignesh Sanghvi’s brilliant run came to a grinding halt as he was unable to match to the superiority of Mumbai’s Rishabh Thakkar, who romped to a fluent 3-1 victory in a Senior Billiards best-of-5-frames (race to 100 points) quarter-final match of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship 2018 and played at the Poona Club and Deccan Gymkhana.
The Otters Club cueist Thakkar was dominant from the start against the Pune cueist Sanghvi who tried his best to offer some resistance but could only pocket one frame. Thakkar mde his intentions clear from the beginning and fired in breaks of 62 and 82 in winning the opening frame before Sanghvi managed to win the second to level scores.
But, later, Thakkar superbly crafted unfinished breaks of 79 in the third and 97 in the fourth and went on to wrap up the match with the frame scores reading 150-34, 127-150, 150-77 and 150-60 in his favour and a place in the penultimate round.
Meanwhile, Mumbai young talent Kreishh Gurbaxani of Khar Gymkhana continued with his brilliant winning run of form and tamed his city rival Carl Serrao (Dadar Club) 3-0 (150(67)-91, 150-77, 159-110). Another Mumbai cueist Vishal Madan (Chembur Gymkhana) also registered a quick 3-0 win against Mumbai’s Hitesh Kotwani (Hindu Gym) with the frames scores reading 150-73, 150-74 and 150-54.
In the fourth quarter-final, Rishabh Kumar (Mumbai) got the better of Vishal Gehani (Mumbai) 3-2 with the scores running close before the former managed to win by a 150-31, 150-115, 136-150, 128-150 and 150-104 scoreline.
Results (quarter-finals):
Vishal Madan (Mumbai) beat Hitesh Kotwani (Mumbai) 3-0 (150-73, 150(69)-74, 150-54); Rishabh Thakkar (Mumbai) beat Vignesh Sanghvi (Pune) 3-1 (150(62,82)-34, 127-150, 150(79*)-77, 150(97*)-60); Rishabh Kumar (Mumbai) beat Vishal Gehani (Mumbai) 3-2 (150-31, 150-115, 136-150, 128-150, 150-104); Kreishh Gurbaxani (Mumbai) beat Carl Serrao (Mumbai) 3-0 (150(67)-91, 150-77, 159-110).
