Punjab cueist Vivek Chopra became the second player to record a century break. He went on a table-clearing attempt and posted exact 100 in the Group F league match in the National Billiards and Snooker championship at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Wednesday.
Playing against Rajat Khaneja of Chandigarh, Chopra had to rally twice before their encounter entered the fifth frame. Khaneja won the first frame 64-41, while Chopra took the second 73-37.
Though Khaneja took the lead again with a 72-35 win in the third frame, Chopra nullified it with 81-5, which included a break of 74. In the decider, Chopra got the perfect rhythm and scripted his best performance in this tournament (100-0).
This was Chopra’s second win in three matches and it improves his chances of making through to the next round along with Pankaj Advani, who won his third match on the trot. Meanwhile, Kamal Chawla, Sourav Kothari and qualifier Brijesh Damani ensured their places in the knockout round with easy wins.
Advani defeated Nikhil Ootam of Maharashtra 71-15 61-71 15-68 61-34 92-5, while Kothari scored two wins, both against Karnataka players, Deepak A and AR Arjun. Also, winning his third match in a row was Aditya Mehta, who comfortably defeated Sunil Kumar of Himachal Pradesh 94-16 66-16 60-52.
However, second-seeded Alok Kumar suffered a big setback when he lost his third league match to Pulkit Thukral of Delhi in well-contested five frames.
Kumar, the runner-up of last year’s nationals in Chennai, was leading 2-1 but Thukral shot back and took the fourth 55-6. In the decider, both cueists played cautiously, but as the table got free of reds, Thukral was able to open up a slight lead before taking the crucial higher value colour balls and eventually the frame 69-57.
Results
Group A: Sunil Kumar (HP) bt Aneesh Saini (Har) 3-0 (52-30 62-58 73-38); Yogesh Sharma (Mah) bt Sumesh Turki (J and K) 3-1 (71-38 57-27 1-87 60-48); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Sunil Kumar (HP) 3-0 (94-16 66-16 60-52); Aneesh Saini (Har) bt Sumesh Turki (J&K) 3-0 (48-56 59-50 24-56 67-33 62-37); Sunil Kumar (HP) bt Yogesh Sharma (Mah) 3-1 (44-43 27-63 53-43 51-15)
Group B: Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Pulkit Thukral (Del) 3-2 (64-30 38 (83)-54 72-35 43-45 60-47); Peter Lalrintluanga (Miz) bt Lalsangzela (Miz) 3-1 (11-58 61-22 57-22 62-12); Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Peter Lalrintluanga (Miz) 3-0 (86-8 71-49 63-28); Pulkit Thukral (Del) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 3-2 (94-44 10-49, 62-67 55-6 69-57); Pulkit Thukral (Del) bt Lalsangzela (Miz) 3-1 (56-63 68-20 69-24 67-40)
Group C: Aamir Hussain (Ben) bt Sajan Bopanna (Kar) 3-2 (20-72 64-11 29-59 64-19 59-50); Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Bhadresh Panchal (Guj) 3-0 (73-15 84(40)-29 54-24); Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) bt Aamir Hussain (Ben) 3-0 (53-19 56-52 60-46); Sajan Bopanna (Kar) bt Bhadresh Panchal (Guj) 3-2 (56-49 41-62 52-51 26-64 81-40)
Group D: Sarang Shroff (Mah) bt K Venkatesham (Rlys) 3-2 (22-54(40) 59-15 63-32 46-57 67(53)-9); M Yogesh Kumar (Kar) bt Pratik Jain (MP) 3-1 (58-19 12-49 67-41 70-15); K Venkatesham (Rlys) bt IH Manudev (Kar) 3-1 (50-26 63-28 36-57 55-30)
Comments