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Elphinstone Cricket Club Sohrab Gandi & Naval Tata Open Handicap Billiards & Snooker Tournament 2010
07 June 2010
Yasin survives Rehman scare to enter final
Merchant survived a late charge from Rehman after leading 2-0 and romped to a 105-41, 85-67, 62-84, 68-74, 86-65 win, in a thrilling best-of-five semi-final that could have gone either way.
Merchant, who has enjoyed envious form right through the competition, began with a brilliant unfinished break of 96 in the opeing frame and followed it with a 46 in the second to take a comfortable lead.
But Rehman showed no signs of caving in and demonstrated that he was no pushover by snatching the next two frames to force the decider.
Even as the in-form Merchant fired breaks of 36 in the third and 42 in the fourth, Rehman delighted the packed hall with the shot of the evening by potting the difficult pink that was glued to the side cushion and returned ideally for the black to keep his hopes alive.
With Rehman enjoying a +40 handicap, Merchant kept himself in the hunt with early breaks of 30 and 20 to lead 51-48 in the fifth and final frame. He went up 61-59 with the last red and the colours remaining, after Rehman missed the brown, and the red on two occasions.
Rehman came back to pot the yellow for a 62-61 lead to pave the way for a humdinger. The cueists were 65-all with Rehman potting a fluke brown in the centre, much to Merchant’s exasperation.
But the experienced Merchant, who endured three in-offs each in the eventful third and fourth frames, had the last laugh as he capitalized on two brilliant and crucial snookers before snatching the frame and match on the pink.
In the final, Merchant will face Rishabh Jain of Dadar Club who beat Jayesh Salvi of Kalyan 3-1 in the other semi-final.
Khar Gymkhana marker Manoj Kasare made a surprise entry into the billiards final where he will take on national women’s champion Meenal Thakur.
Result Snooker (Semi Finals) Yasin Merchant (scr, Khar Gym) bt Abdur Rehman (+40, Islam Gym) 105(96unf)-41, 85(46)-67, 62(36)-84, 68(42)-74, 86-65 Rishabh Jain (+40, Dadar Club) bt Jayesh Salvi (+40, Kalyan) 116(43)-55, 84-104, 103-54, 106-50
Snooker (Quarter Finals) Abdur Rehman (+40, Islam Gym) bt Mohan Shetty (+55, Catholic Gym) 112-81, 119-101, 97-81 Jayesh Salvi (+40, Kalyan) bt Nilesh Patankar (+50, Thane SC) 90-94, 106-98, 120-91, 106-56 Rishabh Jain (+40, Dadar Club) bt Pranav Desai (+40, Santacruz Gym) 112-80, 83-108, 98-54, 102-75 Yasin Merchant (scr, Khar Gym) bt Hasan Badami (+25, Islam Gym) 76-74, 72-43, 69-26
Billiards (Semi Finals) Manoj Kasare (+45, Khar Gym) bt Mahesh Jagdale (-60, North Indian Assn) 300-293 Meenal Thakur (-30, PJ Hindu Gym) bt Sandeep M. (+60) 300-257.
Billiards Quarter Finals) Quarter-finals: Manoj Kasare (+65, Khar Gym) bt Ankit Thakker (+30, Matung Gym) 250-111 Mahesh Jagdale (-50, North Indian Assn) bt Prabdeep Singh (+40, MIG) 250-236 Meenal Thakur (-25, PJ Hindu Gym) bt Hasan Badmi (+25, Islam Gym) 250-239.
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