Mumbai: Bombay Gymkhana's Abhishek Bajaj displayed tremendous fighting spirit as he recovered from the loss of the first two frame to defeat Vijay Mallha of Club Aquaria 3-2, in a senior men’s snooker third round qualifying match of the BSAM, organised Maharashtra State Junior Snooker and Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship, at the Bombay Gymkhana billiards room.
Mallha grabbed the chances initially to pocket the first two frame. But, Bajaj showed great character as he snatched the next two frames by close margins to level the scores. Having gained in confidence Bajaj dominated the decider to carve out a 54-61, 48-66, 95-86, 48-36 and 61-22 victory.
Pune cueist Rajwardhan Joshi fired in a break of 57 in the second frame and went on to overcome Omkar Shinde of Chiplun 3-1 (49-7, 82-8, 38-67 and 67-40) in another third round encounter. Cricket Club of India's Shabaz Khan proved too good for Abhishk Bora of Pune and smoothly raced to a 3-0 (44-08, 58-26 and 73-31) win.
Results (Rd-3):
Avenish Shah (MCF) bt Tehkum Alim (Radio Club) 3-1 (62-27. 61-34, 31-54, 63-20); Kiran Chheda (Dombivali Gym) bt Arun Kumar (Thane) 3-1 (80-73, 59-37, 41-55. 65-43); Adit Raja (JVPG) bt Rishabh Gohil (ECC) 3-0 (53-18, 56-27, 68-17); Rajwardhan Joshi (Pune) bt Omkar Shinde (Chiplun) 3-1 (49-7, 82 (57)-8, 38-67, 67-40); Shabaz Khan (CCI) bt Abhishek Bora (Pune) 3-0 (44-08, 58-26. 73-31); Abhishek Bajaj bt Vijay Mallha (Club Aquaria) 3-2 (54-61, 48-66, 95-86, 48-36, 61-22); Rd-2: Abhishek Bora (Pune) bt Ameya Sankhala (Park Club) 3-2 (63-39, 34-60, 63-30, 49-62, 54-45); Rd-1: Jigish Choksi (NSCI) bt Vishal Yelve (MCA) 3-1 (09-53, 59-36. 53-43, 45-23); Rahul Narang (NIA) bt Akshay Dalvi 3-2 (12-54, 41-72, 48-25, 51-36, 56-43); Raj Khandwala (CCI) bt Pramod Ruke (Bombay Gym) 3-0 (67-28, 70-23, 68-51)
