Former World champion and India number two Sourav Kothari and Peter Sheehan of England hogged the limelight recording sizeable breaks during their respective opening group matches of the All India CCI Billiards Classic 2024, played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall on Wednesday.
The Kolkata-based Kothari proved too good for Mumbai challenger Rishabh Kumar and breezed to an emphatic 915-160 win in a Group-F league match. Kothari exhibited superb touch and control as he started with a flourish stitching together a couple of double century breaks -- 235 and 283 and a century effort of 160 to knock the fight out of Kumar who could only watch in awe. He had two more notable runs of 78 and 85.
On another table, Peter Sheehan of England was in red hot form and stormed past another Mumbai cueist Rajeev Sharma charging to a convincing 1161-280 victory in a Group-G league encounter. The Merseyside Police Officer Sheehan constructed the tournament’s top break of 291 and rolled in three more century efforts of 198, 121 and 184 besides breaks of 86, 73 and 72 to complete the demolition of his opponent.
Indian stars Rupesh Shah and Dhvaj Haria, both from Gujarat, also registered double century breaks during their opening round wins. The former World champion Shah compiled an unfinished run of 221 during his 791-247 win against CCI’s Nishant Dossa in a Group-B match. Shah also put together breaks of 198, 121, 184, 86, 73 and 72.
The lanky left-handed Haria outplayed Mumbai cueist Loukic Pathare 834-384. Haria's best showing was a break of 239 and a couple of runs of 125, 141, 86 and 89 to seal his win.
National champion and India number one, Dhruv Sitwala was not at his best but still managed to put it across Rishabh Thakkar 497-252 in a Group-E match. Sitwala produced breaks of 106, 96 and 80 while Thakkar compiled breaks of 104 and 61.
Results - Group-B: Rupesh Shah beat Nishant Dossa 791-247;
Rob Hall (UK) beat Ashok Shandilya 445-373.
Group-C: Mahesh Jagdale beat Vishal Madan 476-358;
Group-D: S. Shrikrishna beat Nikhil Ootam 915-283.
Group-E: Shahyan Razmi beat Kamal Chawla 496-386;
Dhruv Sitwala beat Rishabh Thakkar 497-252.
Group-F: Alok Kumar beat Rohan Jambusaria 525-476;
Sourav Kothari beat Rishabh Kumar 915-160.
Group-G: Peter Sheehan beat Rajeev Sharma 1161-280;
Dhvaj Haria beat Loukic Pathare 834-384.
Group-H: Chris Taylor bt Kanishk Jhanjharia 487-315.
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