Otters Club emerge champions

Hosts Otters ‘Rockets’ (Otters Club) emerged champions of the Otters Club-Mumbai Snooker League (MSL) – 2017.

Playing on their home table, Otters Club recovered for a 0-2 deficit to dethrone defending champions ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ (Elphinstone Cricket Club) by 3-2.

The Champions, Otters Club received the glittering MSL Trophy and a cash award of Rs 75,000 from President, Mustafa Arsiwala. ECC ‘Elfies Hornets’ were presented with the runnersup trophy and a cash prize of Rs 45,000.

ECC started with a flourish by winning the opening two frames and looked good to retain their crown. Rushabh Gohil (+55) held his nerves and stayed focused to snatch a close 106-104 win against Otters Club’s consistent player Abhimanyu Gandhi (+20) in the first frame. Later, ECC skipperFarhad Tengra and Vilas Upsham (+20) combined nicely to tame the Otters pair of Zenul Arsiwal and Yudhishthir Jaising (+27) by 75-48 points to give ECC a solid 2-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, Rishabh Thakkar, shone the brightest by winning both his matches, including the fifth and deciding frame, in which he compiled a break of 53, to enable Otters Club cross the winning line. Thakkar won the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Meanwhile, Rahul Sachdev of KG ‘G.S.T.’ (Khar Gymkhana) who had made a 109 break in the league phase won the award.

Sparsh Pherwani of Khar Gymkhana bagged the ‘Most Promising Player’ award, while Zenul Arsiwala of Otters Club won the ‘Best Player’ award in the senior category.

The four losing quarter-finalists -- CCI Snooker Kings, KG Wanted, Malabar Matka Kings and NSCI Seniors, received a prize of Rs 10,000 each, while the two losing semi-finalists -- KG Dirty Half Dozen and KG Pocket Rockets, received a prize of Rs 20,000 each. ‘Highest Break’