With the qualifying rounds over, the Rs.3.75 Lakh CCI Platinum Jubilee Open Snooker Tournament will have the look of a mini-National. Barring pro Aditya Mehta and No.4 Brijesh Damani all the Indians stars are in the round of 32 commencing from Monday.
Top seed Pankaj Advani was gracious enough to divert attention to Manan Chandra who beat him at the GOA trials to be the No.1 ranked India player. The talk centered again on the prize of Rs.1.47 Lakh offered by the club members for the first to make snooker's dream break of 147. When Advani was asked about the 147 he said, "I have not made a century break for the last ten days, you better ask Manan who made a 146 in the world championship in Holland." Advani said with the tournament a straight knockout he doubted if players would divert their energies to a big break. He said the qualifiers had an advantage having got used to the tables. But he added, "CCI always provide the best, so that's not a problem."
Manan said, "When I hit 146, I couldn't hope for the 147 once I potted pink instead of black after the third or fourth red." He said he has a 147 in practice. Also stalwart Alok Kumar, who said he hit it in South Africa at midnight. There was a prize of a car and billiards table for a 147 in tournament.
Kekoo Nicholson, the CCI vice-chairman, said a host of youngsters had come through the qualifiers and hoped they would give the stars a run for their money. Badal Mittal, the president, said "I hope to make this event an annual affair so that Mumbai gets to see the cream of our snooker talent."
The CCI's Karan Dharni Dharka and Sanjay Jhaveri of PJ Hindu Gymkhana registered exciting wins to advance to the elite round. Jhaveri beat Sarang Shroff 3-1. Indian Junior No.2 Vivek Chopra of Jalandhar beats Arun Agrawal of Mumbai 3-1.
Others to make can be seen in Qualifying Results
