Naresh, Sushant, Shubham score hard fought victories

PUNE: Local lad Naresh Ahir, outstation cueist Sushant Khade along with Girish Giri, Shubham Lohakare, Datta Raj, Jamsed Garda and Pratik Chavan struggled through three-frame encounters in the inaugural Sterlite Tech Cup India Open Snooker Championship, played at The Q Club tables, Viman Nagar, on Saturday.

New Club’s Naresh Ahir played a brilliant game against Ranjit Kachare of Q Club. Initially, Naresh was 0-1 frame down, but in the second and third frame, he played better than Ranjit to win the game 2-1 (28-54, 60-17, 69-49).

Sushant Khade managed to win against Ashish Hole of RCBC by 20-29, 66-35, 79-21. Girish Giri of Corner Pockets scored an exciting 78-52, 13-57, 62-11 win over Siddharth Tembhe of Cue Club.

It was a mixed day for Datta Raj of Corner pockets. In the first match, Datta lost against Shubham Lohakare of Q Club 0-2. In the second tussle, Datta scored a tough win over Yesu Pillye of Q Club 62-23, 29-65, 56-01.

Jamshed Garda of Poona Club and Pratik Chavan of Q Club also registered three-frame victories.

RESULTS: (League round)
Gyanaranjan Satpathy bt Vishal Rajani 32-46, 56-39, 63-56; Dhaval Gadhvi bt Siddhant P. 65-26, 52-40; Saif Shaikh bt Vipin Sankpal 66-49, 33-62, 61-54; Naresh Ahir (New Club) bt Ranjit Kachare  28-54, 60-17, 69-49; Jamshed Garda bt Mukesh Bhosale 49-12, 16-48, 58-5; Pratik Chavan bt Abhishek Satav 23-62, 48-40, 62-47; Ankush Pasad bt Yesu Pillaye 49-36, 55-17; Vishal Rajani bt Deepak Patil 32-09, 45-42; Sushant Khade bt Ashish Hole 20-29, 66-35, 79-21; Girish Giri bt Siddharth Tembhe 78-52, 13-57, 62-11; Shubham Lohakare bt Datta Raj 55-29, 72-33; Datta Raj bt Yesu Pillye 62-23, 29-65, 56-1; Luv Boricha bt Nikhil Khobarjade 51-08, 60-16.