CCI Snooker Classic: Krish Bajaj, Raj Khandwala score easy wins

Mumbai, January 22: CCI cueists Krish Bajaj and Raj Khandwala were comfortable third qualifying round winners. Young turk Bajaj got the better of Rahul Bisht 3-1 (36-16, 7-49, 59-31, 73-24), while Khandwala blanked Ronak Dedhia winning 3-0 (70-40, 71-48, 51-22) in their respective best-of-five-frame matches of the Rs 12.1 lakh prize-money CCI Snooker Classic 2023, organised by the Cricket Club of India, and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall.

Meanwhile, Saad Sayed of Pune qualified for the main draw as he outclassed Pratyush Somayajula charging to a straight frames 4-0 (71-19, 57-50, 50-46, and 91-19) victory in the final qualifying round match.

Gujarat’s Dhruv Patel produced a late fight and managed to scrape past Sushant Khade 3-2 (64-41, 25-44, 50-5, 54-69, and 70-0) to advance to the final qualifying round.

Akash Ramteke also got lucky as he managed to put it across seasoned billiards pro Dhruv Sitwala clinching a fighting 3-2 (52-63, 69-58, 28-71, 69-62, and 67-56) victory in five well-contested frames.

Odisha’s Asutosh Padhy showed consistent potting touch and constructed breaks of 63 and 58 in the first and third frames respectively and went on to tame Pranjal Shukla coasting to quick 3-0 (66-5, 76-11, 74-9) victory.

Railways seasoned player K. Venkatesham was also in great form and outplayed Tanmay Jatkar riding to a quick 3-0 (66-9, 69-19, 63-28) win.

Results – final qualifying round: Saad Sayed (Pune) bt Pratyush Somayajula 4-0 (71-19, 57-50, 50-46, 91(39)-19);

Third qualifying round: Krish Bajaj bt Rahul Bisht 3-1 (36-16, 7-49, 59-31, 73-24); K. Venkatesham (Rlys) bt Tanmay Jatkar 3-0 (66(51)-9, 69-19, 63-28); Raj Khandwala bt Ronak Dedhia 3-0 (70-40, 71-48, 51-22); Asutosh Padhy (Odisha) bt Pranjal Shukla 3-0 (66(63)-5, 76-11, 74(58)-9); Rrahul Sachdev bt Parag Paithankar 3-0 (68-14, 51-40, 86(76)-9); Dhruv Patel (Guj) bt Sushant Khade 3-2 (64-41, 25-44, 50-5, 54-69, 70-0); Aashit Pandya bt Rohan Kothare 3-1 (71(50)-9, 52-76(46), 70-37, 68(43)-15); Aditya Shandilya bt Omar Farooqui 3-2 (16-69, 63-53, 36-62, 72-37, 64-60); Akash Ramteke bt Dhruv Sitwala 3-2 (52-63, 69-58, 28-71, 69-62, 67-56); Anant Mehta bt Parth Shah 3-1 (37-76, 61-46, 65-57, 59-40);