Pune: Defending champion Abhimanyu Gandhi got off to brilliant start, while pre-tournament favourites Rahul Sachdev and Bharat Sisodiya kept in line winning their respective encounters in the 2nd Rajabhau Shahade Cup PYC-Green Baize Open Snooker Challenge, at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana tables, on Friday.
On a day that had first and second round matches overlap, Abhimanyu took the cake composing a huge 89-point break in the third frame against Chintamani Jadhav. Winning the first two frame (62-26, 56-42), the Mumbai-based cueist showed his class walking out with a one-sided 121-0 third frame verdict to enter the third round.
Later, Bharat Sisodiya (Madhya Pradesh), ranked No 25 in India, won back to back matches to stamp his authority. In his opener he downed Sparsh Pherwani (Mumbai) after an opening frame reverse 39-58, 55-19, 74-59, 71-31 and later pushed aside Vedant Doshi (RCBC) in a another four-frame encounter 76-24, 70-26, 48-64, 61-36.
The tournament’s top ranked Rahul Sachdev, currently No. 19 in India, had a winning start by downing Dikshant Nanaware (Pune) 67-34, 68-25, 67-08.
Results:
Main Draw:
Round-1: Priyank Jaiswal (MP) bt Ajinkya Swami (Pune) 73-16, 53-18, 29-49, 78-10; Shubham Randhe (Thane) bt Kunal Rokade (Pune) 49-15, 52-50, 68-40; Rahul Sachdev (Mum) bt Dikshant Nanaware (Pune) 67-34, 68-25, 67-08; Viren Sharma (MP) bt Mahesh Paigude (Pune) 83-44, 41-71, 52-42, 61-29; Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Sparsh Pherwani (Mumbai) 39-58, 55-19, 74-59, 71-31; Rohan Sahani (MP) bt Awaiz Sayyad (Pune) 53-29, 62-14, 27-48, 81-18; Nilesh Pathankar (Thane) bt Saurabh Ayyagari (Pune) 51-22, 57-28, 52-50; MD Hussain (MP) bt Amardeep Ghodke (Pune) 81(75)-16, 45-67, 65-29, 73-18.
Round-2: Abhimanyu Gandhi (Mumbai) bt Chintamani Jadhav (Corner Pocket) 62-26, 56-42, 121 (89)-0; Anupam Jha (Pune) bt Yogi More (Pune) 0-1, 64-71, 65-01, 58-12, 66-20; Mohan Jagtap (PYC) bt Kartike Sharma (Mum) 56-54, 89(53)-00, 46-03; Ketan Chawla (MP) bt Shrinivas Kashuri (Pune) 83-29, 60-31, 56-42; Kumar Shinde (Poona Club) bt Rushabh Gohil (Pune) 64-28, 67-48, 08-59, 52-51; Himanshu Jain (AP) bt Naresh Ahir (New Club) 19-52, 81-22, 62-22, 69-07; Gaurav Jaisinghania (Washi) bt Siddhesh Mulye (Chipalun) 64-29, 45-44, 59-38; Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Vedant D (RCBC) 76-24, 70-26, 48-64, 61-36.