City cueists on a roll

Several players made great starts at the Fateh Maidan Open snooker and billiards tournament in the city

A host of cueists began brightly in the opening round of matches at the Fateh Maidan Open snooker and billiards tournament, being played at the Fateh Maidan Club in Hyderabad.

Mohammed Ismail, Clinton, Nitin Suntwal, Dhruv Singh, Shiva Sharma, Dhanraj, Vicky Agarwal and Bala registered comprehensive three-frame victories in their respective matches.

Ismail defeated Subodh Modi, Clinton proved too good for Bharat, Nitin outplayed Sunny, Dhruv comfortably beat Vishal, Shiva got the better of Suhas, Dhanraj blanked Sagar Gala, Vicky shut out Sunny and Bala defeated Dhyan Sunder Agarwal.

Of these matches, the clash between Dhanraj and Sagar was perhaps the most one-sided encounter.

Dhanraj took little time to hit his stride, and won the first frame 69-10 in comprehensive fashion. He continued in the same vein in the second frame, giving his opponent no time to gather his wits. He doubled his lead with a 60-7 win in the second frame.

He rode his momentum in the third frame, capturing it 64-2 to complete a thumping victory.

There were a few close matches, too. Abid Ali, Samir Tharani, P.L. Murthy and Hemant Thakur Singh scored 3-2 victories in their respective encounters.

Abid scraped past Mummit, Samir struggled to a win over Gibbs Hardwood, Murthy edged past Sagar Pingle and Hemant quelled a challenge from Zubin.

Abid made a stuttering start to his match, with several mistimed shots handing his opponent the first frame 69-32.

He came back well to take the second 84-16. But the see-saw nature of the match meant Mummit went ahead when he bagged the third game 61-43. Abid, however, refused to give up, and won the fourth frame 7230. Cashing in on his momentary advantage, Abid closed out the match by taking the final frame.

Murthy too lost the first frame 34-61. He won the next two frames to take the initiative, but Sagar won the fourth. Murthy took the fifth and sealed the win.