Karnataka cueists Kushal Chandrashekar and Shaikh Najeeb Ahmed, both made bright winning starts by posting easy wins in their respective first round encounters, in the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship 2018, and played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones Billiards Room, on Monday.
Kushal Chandrashekar
Chandrashekhar took time to get off the blocks and tamely lost the opening frame to Nayan Bhuva of Gujarat in a first round tie. But, the Karnataka challenger quickly got into a groove and bouncing back in style by winning the next three to clinch a 3-1 win with the frame scores reading 16-57, 56-12, 54-48 and 59-14 in his favour.
On another table, Ahmed also had a hesitant start and conceded the opening frame to Punjab’s Shivam Rana before pulling through at 3-1. Ahmed recovered well and started to strike the balls perfectly to close out the match winning at 30-45, 60-39, 63-45 and 42-25.
Meanwhile, Anas Chandiwala of Surat and Ashish C. Shah from Baroda recorded contrasting first round victories to progress to the next round. Chandiwala straight away hit the right notes and outplayed Naveen Paladugula of Secunderabad, romping to a fluent 3-0 win. With some clinical potting Chandiwala went on to register a 60-18, 58-18, 53-12 victory.
On the other hand, Shah produced solid fight as he came from behind to turn the tables on Telagana’s P. Abhiraj winning by a 3-2 margin. Abhiraj got off to a great start by taking the first two frames, but he was unable to carry the momentum and completely lost his way. Shah who managed to find his touch and began to pot more consistently managed to snatch the remaining three frames to script a 18-74, 27-68, 53-43, 63-28 and 61-36 victory.
Results – 1st round: M.D. Hussain (Rly) bt Varun Daga (Bombay Gym) 3-2 (38-54, 42-55, 93-26, 72-14, 58-17); Vimal Mariwala (Radio Club) bt Ejaz Merchant (CS) 3-2 (64-61, 43-41, 20-56, 51-53, 66-43); Abhijeet Ranade (Pune) bt Ramizudding Khan 3-1 (66-24, 23-68, 64-32, 57-22); Ashish C. Shah (Baroda) bt P. Abhiraj (TLGN) 3-2 (18-74, 27-68, 53-43, 63-28, 61-36); Siddharth Kemani (CCI) bt Chinmay Gawde (Radio Club) 3-1 (65-40, 30-66, 66-24, 61-47); Anas Chandiwala (Surat) bt Naveen Paladugula (Secunderabad) 3-0 (60-18, 58-18, 53-12); Shaikh Najeeb Ahmed (KSBA) bt Shivam Rana (Pun) 3-1 (30-45, 60-39, 63-45, 42-25); Nabil Lakdawala (TLGN) bt Ranjeet Nagi (Vashi) 3-0 (awarded the 1st frame as Nagi reported late, 55-34, 58-48); Tushar Pankhania (Bhyander) vs Zulfikar Saria (CCI) 3-0 (51-26, 53-43, 68-2); Durlabh Sisodiya (KSBA) bt Rishabh Panchamia (MCF) 3-0 (57-28, 61-50, 38-35); Kushal Chandrashekhar (KSBA) bt Nayan Bhuva (Guj) 3-1 (16-57, 56-12, 54-48, 59-14); Rohan Kothare (BSAA) bt Sudin (KSBA) 3-0 (58-38, 72-48, 65-17); Manoj Nandwani (Ulhasnagar) bt Tehkum Alim 3-0 (66-32, 50-15, 53-45).