Shobhit enjoys a good outing at green baize
It was indeed a bright morning at the Green Baize where Lucknow Cue Sports Association organized UP Open Handicap Snooker Tournament is being played on Thursday. In the first frame of the first match of the morning, young cueist Shobit Chandra (+16), who was sub-junior India No 4 at the Lucknow Nationals, hit a sweet break of 67.
At 67 Shobit potted the blue in the center pocket playing with full ball follow and right side planning to go into the remaining six red bunches behind the pink. But unfortunately for him a pot that needed to be played by cheating the pocket went bang in the center of the pocket and the handball followed suit. He won his match against Anshul Pandey(+24) 3-0. This made his breaks the highest of the tournament so far.
On the other table, Zaid (+32) continued with his winning spree as he ousted senior cueist Dishad Ansari (+16). Zaid was not whom the money was on but his simple and uncomplicated game had Dilshad totally flustered as he kept looking for the elusive breaks. Though he did manage to win one frame, Zaid won three to win the match 3-1.
Hero of day two Utkarsh Chauhan (+24) once again had a tough match against his Kanpur mate Kshitiz Gautam (+8).
The score line 3-2 was an indication how tough the fight was, though it must be said that Utkarsh had a golden opportunity in the fourth frame when needing just the pink to win the match, rushed the shot with the anticipation of the win and missed a sitter. The decider, on the other hand was one sided as he moved to the next round.
Qasim Zaidi (+16), another youngster, had to pull out all his guns to oust senior cueist Anurag Basker (+8). Once again all the eyes were on Anurag but Qasim had different idea. Going 2-0 down the odds became even higher against Qasim but Qasim determination and tenacity was a lesson for all seniors to learn from. After winning the third, Qasim never looked back to win the match 3-2.