Sachdev, Panchal rally to win, progress to main draw in CCI Snooker
Rahul Sachdev of Cue Schooling, Mumbai, continued with his brilliant run of form as he, after losing the opening two frames came up with a solid determined fighting performance to turn the tables on his seasoned opponent Rafat Habib of Railways by pulling off a 4-2 victory in a best-of-seven frame fourth round qualifying match of the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship and played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones Billiards Room on Wednesday.
The gutsy left-handed Mumbai player Sachdev exhibiting excellent break-building abilities constructed substantial breaks to win four frames in succession as he went on to clinch a well-deserved win and progress to the main draw which starts from Wednesday.
Sachdev will take on veteran Alok Kumar of PSPB in the first round.
Habib with efforts of 56 and 67 took the first two frames before Sachdev struck a purple patch rolling in breaks of 79, 65, 52 and 62 to post a 6-101(56 break), 1-83(67), 79(79)-8, 65(65)-62(43), 96(52)-5, and 63(62)-25 triumph.
Another Mumbai-based cueist, Manav Panchal of Malabar Hill Club also showed great resilience as he produced a strong gritty performance to win his fourth-round match against Venkatesh of Railways and also qualify for the tournament proper.
Trailing 1-3, Panchal fought back well and managed to pocket the remaining three frames to snatch a tight 4-3 victory with the frames scores reading 46-84, 56-7, 50-63, 55-66, 64-62, 6621 and 78-9 in his favour.
Meanwhile Brijesh Damani of PSPB and Arvind Kumar of Railways faced little trouble in winning their respective fourth round encounters. Damani struck the balls well and raced past Anuj Uppal of Delhi, coasting to a 4-0 (67-5, 74-46, 70-47, 72-65).
Kumar also had things much his own way as he tamed Niraj Vasava of Surat by an identical 4-0 (83-14, 71-19, 60-47, 62-45) frame scores.
RESULTS (FOURTH ROUND)
Rahul Sachdev (Cue Schooling) bt Rafat Habib (4-2 (6-101(56), 183(67), 79(79)-8, 65(65)-62(43), 96(52)-5, 63(62)-25); Manav Panchal (Malabar Hill Club) bt Venkatesh (Rly) 4-3 (46-84, 56-7, 50-63, 55-66, 64-62, 66-21, 78-9); Taaha Khan (Pune) bt Mukund Bharadia (CCI) 4-3 (37-10, 16-89 (53), 42-49, 2-92(82), 65-43, 72-43, 73-31).