Indian National champion Dhruv Sitwala recorded his second successive win defeating Kamal Chawla 667-250 in second round Group-E league match of the All India CCI Billiards Classic 2024, played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on Thursday.
On an adjacent table, Mumbai challenger Rohan Jambusaria scored a stunning victory against former World champion Sourav Kothari of Kolkata by carving out a satisfying 520-403 success in a Group-F encounter.
Meanwhile, Raayan Razmi also registered his second win as he got the better of Rovin D’Souza by a comfortable 820-234 victory in all-Mumbai Group-A contest and on another table, Gujarat’s Dhvaj Haria compiled breaks of 189,103,176, 71 and 90 enroute to a fluent 894-276 win against Raajeev Sharma in Group-G match.
Last year’s runner-up Rob Hall of England played steadily and easily defeated CCI cueist Nishant Dossa 644-293 in a Group-B match. The Englishman did not bring out his best but still managed to roll in breaks of 77, 82, 57, 57, 89 and 95.
The left-handed India number one Sitwala who was not at his best enjoyed a marginal lead initially. But he suddenly produced a solid 220 break at the halfway stage which helped him seize a sizable lead. Thereafter he continued to maintain the momentum and with breaks of 83, 83, 56 and 82 went on to close out the contest and assure a place in the pre-quarter-finals.
In a battle between former World champions Rupesh Shah managed to overcome Ashok Shanidlya by a close 473-362 margin in a low-scoring Group-B match.
In other matches, S. Shrikrishna a former Junior National champion defeated Mumbai’s Akshay Gogri 947-302 in a Group-E clash and seasoned Punjab cueist Alok Kumar rallied to record a fighting win against Mumbai’s Rushabh Kumar snatching a tight 437-412 victory in a closely-fought Group-F encounter.
