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The Catholic Gymkhana Open Handicap Snooker Tournament 2010
15 February 2010
Pandya, Thomas shocked!
Rajan Pathak (+50) of Mumbai Port Trust shocked 2007 junior national champion and current senior state No. 2 Pandya (+10) of Spring Club 99-75, 82-70, while Rohit Bajaj (+60) of CCI overcame Joe Thomas (+55) of Central Railway 107-97, 109-80 on a disastrous day for the favourites.
Thomas was up by 25 points in the opening frame with the colours remaining but he frittered away the opportunity to snatch the lead, before he lost his way again in the second frame.
The upsets of the formidable overshadowed 65-year-old Sebastian D’Cruz’s thrilling 66-115, 123-104, 106-97 first round win over Abhay Haralkar of Mumbai Port Trust in the third upset of the day.
After dropping the opening frame Catholic Gymkhana’s D’Cruz, who enjoyed a handicap of +60, kept his hopes alive by snatching the second frame with a substantial lead. He was trailing 94-97 in the deciding third frame after brilliant long pots with the green and blue when his fortunes changed.
With only the pink and black remaining, Haralkar forfeited six crucial points following an in-off on the pink that offered D’Cruz a golden opportunity. Clearly relishing home conditions, D’Cruz returned to rifle in the pink and left Haralkar stranded.
Last year’s state champion and current No. 3 Nikhil Ootam of CCI survived an early scare before scraping to a narrow 68-87, 90-79, 102-75 win over Kamlesh Chawla (+55) of Mulund Lions Club.
Results (1st Rd) Akief Haveliwala (+55, CCI) bt John Dantes (+70, Catholic Gym) 120-75, 120-80 Kersie Gandhi (+55, Elphinstone CC) bt Arun Kotian (+55, Tata SC) 65-95, 111-89, 113-99 Rajan Pathak (+50, MbPT SC) bt Rishab Pandya (+10, Spring Club) 99-75, 82-70 Prathamesh Sawant (+55, Thane) bt Joe Rodrigues (+70, Catholic Gym) 126-115, 123-75 Nikhil Ootam (+20, CCI) bt Kamlesh Chawla (+55, Mulund Lions Club) 68-87, 90-79, 102-75 Rohit Bajaj (+60, CCI) bt Joe Thomas (+55, Central Rly) 107-97, 109-80 Jaiveer Dhingra (+55, CCI) bt Sanjay Patil (+55, Shivaji Park Gym) 107-89, 95-81 Saby D’Cruz (+60, Catholic Gym) bt Abhay Haralkar (+55, MbPT) 66-115, 123-104, 106-97
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Fancied
players Rishab Pandya and Joe Thomas made premature exits in the
Goldfilled Open Handicap Snooker Tournament at the Catholic Gymkhana
on Monday.