Manisha National Snooker Championship: Huge century break propels Mehta

PUNE: An outstanding table-clearing break of 134 by defending champion Aditya Mehta set him apart from the rest of the cueists on the second day of the 78th National Snooker championship at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Tuesday.

The Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSPB) cueist Mehta won his second game in as many days in Group A of the league phase in the 78th Manisha-National Billiards and Snooker championship being organized by the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra and the PYC Hindu Gymkhana.

Playing against qualifier Yogesh Sharma of Maharashtra, the Mumbai-based Mehta was tentative at the start when Sharma attempted escapes to keep his opponent at bay in the first frame.

There was slow progress before table opened up and Mehta was able to pot better colour balls than Sharma to take the frame 68-55. Again, Sharma tried to find escapes in the second frame, but once Mehta found a clear line he went on to clean the reds before taking the frame 71-3.

Not allowing to get locked in snooks, Mehta, who has been playing on the proTour in England this season, dished out an amazing table-clearance of unfinished 134 to post his second win in the league.

In snooker, maximum break possible is 144 and Mehta was just 10 below—showing his control over the green baize and the lines right from the start of the championship. He won 68-55, 71-3, 134-0.

Last year’s runner-up, Alok Kumar, also of PSPB, scored his first win—a 3-0 victory of Lalsanzela of Mizoram in Group B. Alok had just one notable break, a 50, in the third frame before he won 68-40, 50-11, 76-39.

But it was qualifier Brijesh Damani who let known his intentions by winning back-to-back matches, including one against No 3 seed Neeraj Kumar of Railways. Bengal cueist Damani in fact scored straight-frame win against Neeraj, who had finished third at the last Nationals in Chennai. Earlier, Damani had beaten Sajan Bopanna of Karnataka 70-16, 62-4, 59-49.

Another qualifier showed that he too was ready for the big game as Durga Pradesh of Railways defeated Devendra Joshi of PSPB 3-1 as the Railways cueist scored two wins to stake claim for the knock-out phase.

Durga Prasad first defeated Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh 62-53, 66-23, 52-83, 41-61, 60-22 in tough five frames before he found his bearings and let the cue do talking against Devendra Joshi despite losing the first frame. He won 14-52, 54-41, 54-42, 63-36, in Group I.

Meanwhile, Kamal Chawla of Railways and four-time champion Pankaj Advani of PSPB recorded easy wins in their second league matches. Chawla defeated Anand Raghuvanshi of Maharashtra 71-34, 53-47, 59-14, while Advani blanked Dhawal Mackwana of Gujarat  83-36, 75-20, 67-26, including a break of 56 in the first frame.

However, former champion and No 7 seed Manan Chandra, playing in Group G, was taken to the distance by fellow Delhi cueist Rishit Jain before the Petroleum Board cueist prevailed 3-2. Manan won 73-8, 59-57, 36-57, 19-61, 69-32—clearing showing that he is out of touch with the sport that he dominated during his junior days with his great potting.

Results: Men’s Snooker: League phase:

Group A: Sunil Kumar (HP) bt Sumesh Turki (J and K) 3-0 (47-40, 75-20, 57-22); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Yogesh Sharma (Mah) 3-0 (68-55, 71-3, 134 (134)-0).

Group B: Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Lalsangzela (Miz) 3-1 (44-53, 61-56, 62-27, 63-52); Pulkit Thukral (Del) bt Peter Lalrintluanga (Miz) 3-0 (66-7, 63-15, 49-25); Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Lalsanzela (Miz) 3-0 (68-40, 50-11, 76 (50)-39).

Group C: Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Sajan Bopanna (Kar) 3-0 (70-16, 62-4, 59-49); Bhadresh Panchal (Guj) bt Aamir Hussain (Ben) 3-2 (37-64, 66-41, 70-56, 30-70, 71 (47)-11); Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) 3-0 (58-26, 83-56, 64 (56)-7).

Group D: K Venkatesham (Rlys) bt Pratik Jain (MP) 3-0 (57-26, 65-33, 70-35); IH Manudev (Kar) bt M Yogesh Sharma (Kar) 3-0 (58-20, 68-17, 75-27).

Group E: Himanshu Jain (AP) bt Anuj Sharma (Goa) 3-0 (59-14, 90-41, 70-1); Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Anand Raghuvanshi (Mah) 3-0 (71-34, 53-47, 59-14).

Group F: Rajat Khaneja (Chd) bt Nikhil Ootam (Mah) 3-1 (69-18, 36-69, 62-28, 56-47); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Dhawal Mackwana (Guj) 3-0 (83 (56)-36, 75-20, 67-26).

Group G: Divya Sharma (Har) bt Dhruv Varma (Pun) 3-2 (64-28, 30-44, 53-41, 40-49, 57-44); Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Rishit Jain (Del) 3-2 (73-8, 59-57, 36-57, 19-61, 69-32).

Group H: IV Rajeev (AP) bt Varun Madan (Del) 3-2 (36-87, 60-42, 43-59, 80-13,  66-35); Ahsan Ul Haq (Ori) bt Sukumar Barman (Asm) 3-0 (76-41, 69-49, 59-47); Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Varun Madan (Del) 3-0 (63-16, 76 (40)-22, 59-17); IV Rajeev (AP) bt Ahsan Ul Haq (Ori) 3-0 (64-11, 73 (51)-21, 110 (64)-4).

Group I: Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt J Varun Kumar (TN) 3-1 (64-54, 70-37, 30-73, 78-62); Amarnath Sharma (Meg) bt Mridul Das (Asm) 3-2 (34-47, 70-27, 71-36, 13-57, 49-37);  Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 3-1 (8-69, 89 (49)-10, 63-4, 61-31); J Varun Kumar (TN) bt Amarnath Sharma (Meg) 3-0 (65-23, 75-27, 63-38).

Group J: Sumit Talwar (Chd) bt Deepak A (Kar) 3-2 (49-60, 32-47, 50-42, 61-24, 63-1); Vinayak Agarwal (UP) bt AR Arjun (Kar) 3-0 (53-15, 94-60, 53-46); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Vinayak Agarwal (UP) 3-0 (85-21, 84-10, 95-19).

Group K: Vipin Premi (UP) bt Rahul Bhargava (Raj) 3-1 (61-50, 45-54, 59-08, 56-40); Vijay Nichani (TN) beat Pushpinder Singh (Rlys) 3-1 (58-32, 60-23, 33-66, 70-37); Shivam Arora (Mah) bt Vipin Premi (UP) 3-0 (76-25, 64-17, 67-64).

Group L: Shoaib Khan (Ben) bt Rupesh Chauhan (HP) 3-0 (50-04, 55-15, 70-9); Durga Prasad (Rlys) bt Akshay Kumar (UP) 3-2 (62-53, 66-23, 52-83, 41-61, 60-22); Durga Prasad (Rlys) bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 3-1 (14-52, 54-41, 54-42, 63-36); Shoaib Khan (Ben) bt Akshay Kumar (UP) 3-2 (40-77, 7-61, 59-18, 70-9, 56-41).

Group M: Senthil (TN) bt Valney Gomendis (Goa) 3-0 (54-47, 65-26, 76-1); Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Shankar Rao (AP) 3-0 (80-30, 82 (82)-4, 67-13); Senthil (TN) bt Kamal Rohmetra (J and K) 3-0 (67-41, 47-45, 65-37).

Group N: Gunjan Patel (Guj) bt Imran Ganj (TN) 3-1 (23-62, 74-37, 52-46, 73-38); Sundeep Gulati (Del) bt Rishabh Pandya (Mah) 3-0 (63-61, 66-47, 62-34); Lalrina Renthei (Miz) bt Gunjan Patel (Guj) 3-1 (56-52, 55-6, 20-53, 73 (44)-7).

Group O: Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Ben) 3-0 (65-15, 70-43, 63-42); Hasan Badami (Mah) bt Rushabh Jain (Mah) 3-2 (68 (68)-11, 65-70, 18-72, 71-58, 53-39); Dhvaj Haria (Guj) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Ben) 3-0 (72-41, 75-43, 55-41).

Group P: Rovin D’Souza (Mah) bt Anupam Jha (Bih) 3-0 (71-11, 67-22, 89-9); R Girish (Rlys) bt Faisal Khan (Rlys) 3-2 (70-59, 25-68, 0-85 (85), 63-49, 80-69); Manish Jain (Ben) bt Rovin D’Souza (Mah) 3-1 (82 (45)-53, 37-70 (46), 53-10, 67-24).