Vinay Swaminathan grabbed all the attention as he showed tremendous concentration and perseverance to grind out a come-from-behind win against a crafty Hassan Badami in a long-drawn fourth frame, which sealed a 3-1 win for Bombay Gymkhana ‘Predators’ against Cricket Club of India ‘X-Men’ in a round of 16 match of the GreatWhite Electricals-NSCI BSAM Mumbai Snooker League 2023, and played at the NSCI billiards hall, late Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, home challengers NSCI ‘Baulkline 2.0’ led by skipper Karan Chug blanked Central Railway Mechanical Institute (CRMI) ‘Shooters’ 3-0 while Malabar Hill Club ‘Matka Kings’ riding on the fine efforts of Rajeev Sharma and Manav Panchal managed to dash the aspirations of Radio Club ‘Sultans’ by snatching a fighting 3-2 win in round 16 encounters.
Karan Anand continued with his consistent run of form and won both his frames to ensure Andheri Recreation Club (ARC) ‘Cheetahs’ knocked out defending champions Elphinstone Cricket Club (ECC) ‘Elfies Stars’ by scripting a 3-1 victory.
In a nerve-jangling fourth frame, CCI ace Badami tried every trick in his bag to outsmart Swaminathan and initially opened up a substantial 40-point lead. But, the gutsy Bombay Gymkhana cueist Swaminathan was cool and composed and playing with a never-say-die attitude gradually and steadily clawed his way back and towards end he managed to put Badami in a spot of bother with perfect snookers on the blue. He benefited from those fouls to cut down Badami’s lead and then carefully went on to pocket the last three colours to complete a satisfying win and close out the contest in favour of his team.
Bombay Gymkhana ‘Phantom’ also tasted success as they defeated Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) ‘Rookies’ by a close 3-2 frame-scores.
Both the Khar Gymkhana teams comprising talented youngsters also progressed to the quarter-finals. Khar Gymkhana ‘1 2 KA 4’ proved too good for Otters Club ‘Thunders’ racing to a quick 3-0 win while Khar Gymkhana ‘Hustlers’ encountered quite a strong challenge from MIG Cricket Club ‘Sharks’ before carving out a 3-2 win in pre-quarter-final matches.
CCI’s second team ‘Dark Knights’ did not disappoint as they defeated Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana (WCG) ‘Alfa’ 3-1 to book their place in the quarters.
Results – Round 16: Khar Gymkhana ‘Hustlers’ beat MIG CC ‘Sharks’ 3-2 (Sparsh Pherwani (SCR) bt Samarth Vernekar (+40) 73-72, Ravi Jaisingh (+20) lost R. Girish (+2) 32-46, Kunal Solanki/Karan Rao (+29) bt Prabdeep Singh/Anuj Soni (+23) 71-20, Sparsh Pherwani (SCR) lost R. Girish (+5) 25-72, Kunal Solanki (+45) bt Samarth Vernekar (+40) 107-68).
Khar Gymkhana ‘1 2 KA 4’ beat Otters Club ‘Thunders’ 3-0 (Nikhil Saigal (+8) bt Zaheer Iqbal (+20) 70-20, Sumer Mago (+10) bt Mohin Motiwala (+55) 113-72, Harmehr Mago/Sahil Kakkad (+20) bt Pankaj Shahani/Shaaze Merchant (+33) 91-33).
CCI ‘Dark Knights’ beat WCG ‘Alfa’ 3-1 (Kanishk Jhanjharia (+25) bt Shaqir Qureshi (+40) 97-66, Pranav Todi (+18) lost Aakash Ramteke (+12) 45-50, Sameer Gupta/Krish Arora (+30) bt Karan Makwana/Jatin Kompani (+26) 67-52, Kanishk Jhanjharia (+25) bt Aakash Ramteke (+30) 92-56).
NSCI ‘Baulkline 2.0’ beat CRMI ‘Shooters’ 3-0 (Karan Chug bt Pratik Khatri (+50) 100-89, Kunal Kapoor/Ronak Dedhia (+29) bt Nikhil Ghadge/Sagar Jain (+18) 68-26, Kamran Ahmed (+20) bt Simranjeet Singh (+14) 66-45).
Malabar Hill Club ‘Matka Kings’ beat Radio Club ‘Sultans’ 3-2 (Anav Jhunjhunwala (+55) lost Rayaan Razmi (+5) 55-106, Akshat Kejriwal/Rajeev Sharma (+23) bt Anuj Mahajan/Mahesh Tolani (+24) 68-41, Manav Panchal (+5) bt Shahyan Razmi (+6) 41-31, Akshat Kejriwal (+45) lost Rayaan Razmi (+5) 80-90, Rajeev Sharma (+30) bt Shahyan Razmi (+15) 73-63).
ARC ‘Cheetahs’ beat ECC ‘Elfies Stars’ 3-1 (Tarun Kalra/Karan Advani (+29) bt Anurag Bagri/Pramod Pol (+17) 68-57, Karan Anand (+15) bt Sunil Jain (+20) 91-66, Om Sawant (+14) lost Mahesh Jagdale (+8) 22-48, Karan Anand (+15) bt Anurag Bagri (+20) 94-41).
Bombay Gymkhana ‘Predators’ beat CCI ‘X-Men’ 3-1 (Shabaz Khan (+10) lost Hasan Badami (+5) 18-87(51), Vinay Swaminathan (+6) bt Nikhil Ootam (+8) 41-24, Zareer Shroff/Vivek Wadhwa (+26) bt Sandeep Gulrajani/Siddharth Khemani (+29) 72-35, Vinay Swminathan (+15) bt Hasan Badami (+5) 78-73).
Bombay Gymkhana Phantom beat MCA Rookies 3-2 (Marzdi Kalyaniwala (+10) lost Rajwardhan Joshi (+8) 32-43, Laxman Rawat (-5) bt Vivek Narayan (+35) 82(58)-59, Nitesh Madan/Kaizad Fitter (+12) lost Jitendra Rane/Prince Loomba (+33) 43-81, Laxman Rawat (-5) bt Rajwardhan Joshi (+20) 78-66, Marzdi Kalyaniwala (+25) bt Vivek Narayan (+35) 87-82).
