Mumbai : 13-year-old Kreishh Gurbaxani of Khar Gymkhana rallied to an exciting black ball win in the decider to advance, in the Matunga Gymkhana 6-Red Snooker Tournament on Thursday.
2014 state sub junior billiards champion Gurbaxani of Jasudben ML school, who trains under former Asian champion Yasin Merchant, recovered from 0-2 and 2-3 deficits to overcome a gallant Rohit Jadhav of Nashik 52-54, 24-53, 61-16, 57-40, 19-61, 46-36, 49-40 in a third round thriller.
Arriving from the far-off district, Jadhav himself played three back-to-back matches on a gruelling day. He kicked off his campaign with a comfortable 4-1 win over PJ Hindu Gymkhana marker Milind Divekar in the first round and fashioned the early exit of veteran Arun Barve of PYC, Pune in another 4-3 thriller in the second round after trailing 2-3 and winning the decider on the black.
In another absorbing third round tie that went the distance, Nakul Parker of MIG prevailed over Mitesh Thakker of Lions Sports Club, Mulund after leading 3-0 and enduring a late challenge while dropping the nail-biting sixth frame on the black and winning the decider with a sigh of relief.
Results: 3rd: Surya Prakash Singh bt Shekhar Surve 54-61, 28-48, 60-28, 64-24, 59-22, 49-36; Kishore Laungani bt Taikum Alim 45-32, 54-29, 60-24, 33-52, 49-29; Nakul Parker bt Mitesh Thakker 51-37, 56-42, 41-39, 28-62, 36-57, 51-59, 66-30; Manoj Kasare bt Harsh Thakker 45-39, 44-48, 57-30, 44-32, 49-22; Kreishh Gurbaxani bt Rohit Jadhav 52-54, 24-53, 61-16, 57-40, 19-61, 46-36, 49-40.
2nd Rd: Taikum Alim bt Naman Agarwal 56-35, 49-37, 44-46, 55-36, 64-34; Sanjiv Bijlani bt Jatin Waghela 52-16, 38-28, 57-21, 54-21; Sumit Saldulkar bt Sushrut Pandia 64-28, 40-42, 38-55, 48-17, 63-26, 53-16; Mitesh Thakker bt Luv Boricha 48-51, 75-43, 54-45, 39-42, 60-47, 61-42; Rohit Jadhav bt Arun Barve 57-37, 32-55, 44-46, 65-43, 23-55, 47-37, 46-41; Neville Razmi bt Joe Thomas 56-31, 65-48, 65-16, 23-59, 53-39.
