CCI All India Open Snooker: Mukund Bharadia defeats Brijesh Damani, moves into quarters

Mukund Bharadia snatches a thrilling victory in a best-of-seven-frame match.

File Photo: Brijesh Damani finished on the wrong side of a close contest.

Mukund Bharadia sent defending champion Brijesh Damani tumbling out of the CCI All India Open Snooker Tournament here on Sunday with a thrilling victory in the round-of-16 contest.

Bharadia, the CCI cueist, snatched a thrilling 4-3 victory in the best-of-seven-frame match.

Bharadia, who represents Indian Oil, struggled to settle down initially. Damani hit a break of 69 to take the first frame before going on to win a close second to take a 2-0 lead. Bharadia, however, got into his stride and comfortably pocketed the next three frames to nose ahead 3-2.

With steady, cautious play, Damani won the sixth frame on the pink to force the seventh to be contested. The decider was another close affair; both players adopted safety tactics in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

With gutsy play, Bharadia stayed ahead, befpre winning the decider on the pink to clinch a 22-82, 24-56, 69-24, 74-48, 65-21, 55-67, 47-38 victory. He will now play the quarterfinal with Pankaj Advani, the top seed.

Advani wins comfortably

Advani’s victory, on the contrary, was more comfortable. He encountered initial resistance from Anurag Giri of Madhya Pradesh, before posting a 4-2 win.

Laxman Rawat, the India No. 2, and Aditya Mehta, the No. 3, also entered the quarterfinals. They recorded convincing victories.

• Results round of 32
• Anurag Giri (MP) beat Yasin Merchant (Mumbai) 4-1 (15-90, 62-50, 69(68)-59, 59-25, 67-36);
• Lucky Vatnani (Telangana) beat Sparsh Perwani (Mumbai) 4-3 (24-67(52), 77-58, 62-19, 33-77(45), 45-40, 7-61, 66(52)-0);
• Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat Avinash Kumar (Delhi) 80(80)-1, 80(72)-0, 70(50)-38, 71-16);
• Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Monu Choudhry (Delhi) 4-1 (59-55, 61-43, 69-8, 11-71, 66-18);
• Varun Madan (Delhi) beat E. Panduranga (Railways) 4-2 (51-62, 78(78)-42, 71-52, 75-28, 48-51, 73-31);

• Results round of 16
• Pankaj Advani (ONGC) beat Anurag Giri (MP) 4-2 (99-33, 36-103(74), 44-65, 62-54, 95(53)-25, 89-13);
• Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Brijesh Damani (Indian OIl) 4-3 (22-82(69), 24-56, 69-24, 74-48, 65-21, 55-67, 47-38);
• Malkeet Singh (Railways) beat S. Dilip Kumar (Railways) 4-3 (63(40)-12, 43-79, 82(82)-0, 53-60, 9-55, 66-40, 73-43);
• Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mumbai) or Lucky Vatnani (Telangana) 4-3 (72-54, 71-29, 16-63, 53-44, 38-58, 31-72, 57-18);
• Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat R. Girish (Railways) 4-1 (1-88(69), 79(57)-42, 91(91)-23, 73(68)-1, 62(43)-24);
• Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Rupesh Shah (Gujarat) 4-0 (78-50, 59-30, 89-50, 72-34);
• Varun Madan (Delhi) beat Sumit Talwar (Chandigarh) 4-2 (2-61, 1-76, 70-27, 64(42)-16, 84(52)-16, 88(67)-21);
• Laxman Rawat (Indian Oil) beat Manan Chandra (BPCL) 4-2 (62-34, 35-74, 65-25, 36-95, 75-39, 68-7).