All India Snooker Open: Rishabh Kumar, Saad Sayed qualify for NSCI snooker main draw

Mumbai: Rishabh Kumar potted steadily and grabbed his chances to build small effective breaks which helped him to post a stunning 4-0 (66-19, 67-40, 76-49, and 56-42) win against Vishal Gehani in a best-of-seven-frame second round qualifying match of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organised ‘Baulkline’ NSCI Rs 13 lakh prize-money All India Snooker Open 2023, at the NSCI billiards hall, on Saturday evening. In another second round match, Pune cueists produced a determined calculated display and outwitted local challenger Gaurav Prabhu racing to a straight frames 4-0 (74-2, 61-46, 71-22, and 79-65) victory. Saad Sayed along with Kumar have now qualified for the main draw.

Meanwhile, Kalpesh Mewada proved too good for Ankit Asawa and comfortably raced to a convincing 4-0 (82-28, 65-27, 85-13, and 67-3) victory in another second round encounter and confirmed his place in the main draw. Delhi cueist Anuj Upal constructed a break of 56 points in the second round and defeated Jenil Patel 3-1 (69-37, 69-6, 41-55, and 57-47) to advance into the second round.

Earlier, in first round matches played on Friday, Siddharth Parikh and Suraj Shirke recorded contrasting victories to advance to the second round. The seasoned Parikh as expected had things much his own way and with a 63-point break in the second frame easily defeated B.G. Muralidharan 3-0 (61-5, 78-14, and 83-34). On a side table, Shirke and Naimil Patel were locked in a keen tussle for supremacy in a low scoring match before the former managed to pull-off a tight 3-2 (32-64, 57-36, 56-31, 43-50, and 45-32) win to join Parikh in the second round.

Results – Round 1: Siddharth Parikh beat B.G. Muralidharan 3-0 (61-5, 78(63)-14, 83-34); Karmesh Patel beat Hargun Anand 3-0 (69-9, 71-26, 71-33); Jenit Ramaiya beat Sidhesh Khaitan 3-1 (62-37, 56-65, 65-43, 55-18); Anurag Bagri beat Alam Sheikh 3-0 (59-42, 56-41, 67-22); Dhruv Patel beat Prem Mirchandani 3-0 (64-47, 79-8, 85-7); Nikhil Ghadge beat Shaikh Liyakat 3-0 (64-36, 70-9, 64-32); Suraj Shirke beat Naimil Patel 3-2 (32-64, 57-36, 56-31, 43-50, 45-32); Vijay Nichani beat Swaroop Pillai 3-0 (63-51, 66-40, 79-8); Anuj Upal beat Jenil Patel 3-1 (69-37, 69(56)-6, 41-55, 57-47).

Round-2: Sumit Saldurkar beat Sagar Desai 4-1 (61-29, 55-24, 89-14, 34-52, 69-28); Kalpesh Mewada beat Ankit Asawa 4-0 (82-28, 65-27, 85-13, 67-3); Dhruv Patel beat Shubhojit Roy 4-1 (120(69)-5, 71-0, 45-54, 56-54, 68-38); Karmesh Patel beat Nikhil Ghadge 4-2 (67-56, 62-60, 0-75, 80-12, 49-80, 75-67); Siddharth Parikh beat Cheatan Rajarwal 4-1 (66-27, 55-44, 61-7, 32-73, 66-10); Rishabh Kumar beat Vishal Gehani 4-0 (66-19, 67-40, 76-49, 56-42); Saad Sayed beat Gaurav Prabhu 4-0 (74-2, 61-46, 71-22, 79-65).