Seasoned campaigner Mahesh Jagdale was on song and constructed two substantial breaks of 96 and 73 en route to an authoritative 4-1 win against Mohasin Shaikh in a qualifying draw first round match of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organized ‘NSCI Baulkline 3.0’ All India Snooker Open 2024, played at the NSCI billiards hall on Wednesday.
The Maharashtra No. 1 billiards player, showed that he is equally proficient in the multi-coloured cue sports as he won the opening two frames to take a 2-0 lead. Shaikh, not prepared to give up easily won the third frame to cut the deficit. But, thereafter, Jagdale was all fired up and showed excellent touch and control in making a 96 in the fourth and signed off with 73 to complete a 60-37, 54-34, 14-64, 110-1 and 110-0 victory.
Siddharth Parikh, who is basically a billiards legend, also showed good potting skills and with breaks of 51 and 56 in the second and third frames recovered to overcome the challenge from Amanullah Shaikh 4-1 (57-63, 84(51)-50(43), 64(56)-28, 74-6, 64-47). Shaikh's best effort was a break of 43 in the second frame.
Another established cueist Hasan Badami also enjoyed an easy outing and compiled a 66 point break and went on to defeat Uddeshey Sethi 4-0 (83-43, 89(66)-17, 55-8, 67-37).
Meanwhile, Vishal Gehani qualified for the main draw defeating Vivek Shah 4-0 (80-46, 69-1, 76-41, 53-45) in a second round encounter. Gehani produced a solid effort of 68 during his win.
Results – Round 1: Rafat Habib (TN) bt Saif Siddique 4-2 (80-4, 61-14, 51-63, 54-13, 49-75, 73-12); Sumit Naidu bt Krishnakumar R. 4-0 (75-24, 55-20, 73(72)-14, 53-6); Md. Shoaib Khan bt Anurag Sharma 4-0 (76-16, 70-9, 88-21, 67-17); Mahesh Jagdale bt Mohasin Shaikh 4-1 (60-37, 54-34, 14-64, 110(96)-1, 110(73)-0); Shwetab Dixit bt Gazi Anwar Jalal 4-0 (51-24, 59-12, 52-45, 59-1); Hasan Badami bt Uddeshey Sethi 4-0 (83-43, 89(66)-17, 55-8, 67-37); Rajeev Sharma bt Roopesh Mirchandani 4-0 (88-5, 45-8, 92-3, 108(43)-10); Siddharth Parikh bt Amanullah S 4-1 (57-63, 84(51)-50(43), 64(56)-28, 74-6, 64-47); Vishwajeet Mohan bt Naushad Munshi 4-0 (89(88)-16, 74-21, 68-22, 102-8); Krishna Tohgaonkar bt Kunaal K 4-0 (72(49)-0, 98-5, 76-42, 75-13);
Round 2: Vishal Gehani bt Vivek Shah 4-0 (80-46, 69(68)-1, 76-41, 53-45);
