Mumbai : Khar Gymkhana ‘Wizards of Hazards’ beat Mandpeshwar Civic Federation ‘Tough Men’ 417-240 to emerge supreme, in the Mumbai Billiards League, at the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana.
Playing with a -50 combined handicap star-studded Wizards lived up to their reputation when former world No. 5 and five-time national runner-up Rishabh Thakkar gave his team a dream start when he fired breaks of 53, 91 and 43 in three visits to tame the formidable Rohan Jambusaria 200-60 in the opening tie of the 200-up contest.
Thakkar’s brilliant effort offered Wizards a comfortable cushion that put their opponents from Borivali under pressure from the word go. Inspired by Thakkar’s early exploits, 2012 national 6-Red champion Shivam Arora raced to a 200-52 win over Sanchit Gemavat that included breaks of 56, 41 and 36 in the second tie to leave national junior champion and IBSF world under-21 runner-up Ishpreeet Singh Chadha with a paltry target of 67 against Tough Men’s Chandu Kansodaria in the third and concluding tie. The in-form Chadha, who fired an unfinished 160 in the quarter-finals for the tournament’s highest break, hit a break of 42 and sealed victory in quick time.
“Ishpreet was not in the squad for the most part of the competition and the onus was on the rest of us including Yasin Merchant,” said Wizards captain Thakkar. “We had a strong team and on any given day two or all three players played well which was the key to our success. It was a team effort.”
Said MCF captain Rohan Jambusaria: “Our strategy did not work in the final. Throughout the tournament we were good as a team but in the end, the better team won.”
