India No. 1 Manan Chandra of PSPB encountered mixed fortunes following a win and a loss, in the HSBC Premier-Shyam Shroff Memorial Open Invitation Snooker Tournament at the Khar Gymkhana on Saturday. Chandra, recent winner of the Otters Club 9-ball Pool title, was shocked by Sandeep Gulati of Delhi 4-3 in a thrilling Group A tie, before overcoming Rafath Habib of Railways 4-1 in his second outing to keep his hopes alive. Earlier, Habib stunned twice Asian champion and strong contender Yasin Merchant 4-0.

Playing his opening tie in the competition, Chandra squandered a 3-2 lead as Gulati romped to a 3-70, 64-61, 69-60, 25-69, 20-65, 68-9, 93-30 win following a brilliant comeback late in the match that included a significant break of 72 in the seventh frame.

India No. 3 Aditya Mehta of PSPB and Railway cueists Kamal Chawla and R. Girish fashioned their third straight wins in as many outings to book their berths in the quarter-finals. Mehta shunted out Ashok Shandilya of Railways with a 4-0 win, while Chawla beat Khar Gymkhana’s Amandeep Kohli by the same margin to qualify from Group D.

Girish registered a crucial 4-2 win over PSPB’s Shahbaz Khan to qualify from Group B. But Shahbaz made amends when he beat Khar Gymkhana’s Deepak Khubchandani 4-1 in his second tie to stay in contention..