Gujarat maestro Geet Sethi staved off the determined and spirited fight from Kerala’s Atit Shah to snatch a tight 3-2 victory in the best-of-5 frame Group-I league match of the MIG Cricket Club organized third Master’s National Snooker Championship – 2019, and played at the MIG Club billiards hall on Monday evening. The event is being organised under the aegis of BSFI and BSAM.
Sethi had just one decent run of 46 in the second frame en route to clinching a 64-36, 87-01, 36-46, 43-75 and 66-29 win. This was the second win for Sethi in the three-player group. He had defeated Delhi’s Sharad Kumar 3-0 (68-44, 75-34 and 68-10) in a late Sunday evening match.
Sethi and Shah, who had also defeated Kumar, finished first and second in the group and qualified for the knockout phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, defending champion Alok Kumar (PSPB) maintained his fine winning streak as he tamed Satyen Chhabria (PSPB) 3-0 in a Group-A tie. The Punjab-based Kumar opened up with a break of 68 in the first frame which set the tone for his facile 99-10, 65-01 and 62-16 victory.
Sethi, a former World professional billiards champion and multiple-time National snooker champion, was his calm usual self, but he encountered quite a stiff challenge from the Kochi-based Shah who potted steadily and with tactical play managed to engage his illustrious opponent in a keen tussle.
Sethi produced a timely break of 30 to win the first frame and later had of efforts of 23 and 46 to pocket the second frame and open up a 2-0 lead. But, Shah not prepared to give up without a fight did well to cash in on the chances and with clever safety tactics he managed to grab the next two frames to draw level. In the decider, Sethi was cool and composed and grabbed every opportunity to accumulate the points. On the other hand, Shah was a bit unfortunate as he gave away quite a few negative points, which enabled the Ahmedabad-based Sethi to win the frame and wrap up the match in his favour.
Maharashtra’s Cherag Ramakrishnan outplayed state mate Anil Sagar winning in straight frames 3-0 (71-10, 94-12 and 57-46) to record his second win in Group-G. Ramakrishnan had defeated Mithil Shinde also from Maharashtra 3-1.
Sarang Shroff scored his third successive win when he got the better of Uttar Pradesh’s Kankan Shamshi 3-2 in a closely fought Group-J match.
Group A: Alok Kumar (PSPB) beat Satyen Chhabria (PSPB) 3-0 (99(68)-10, 65-01, 62-16).
Group B: V.N. Subramanian (MH) beat Nishant Dossa (MH) 3-0 (52-18, 62-23, 47-05);
Ashish Dhanda (PUB) beat Nishant Dossa (MH) 3-0 (51-26, 73-09, 72-39).
Group C: Anuj Upal (DEL) beat Ishtmit Singh Malik (UP) 3-2 (36-71, 92-23, 39-62, 84-00, 75-47);
Prabdeep Singh (MH) beat Bapu Gaikwad (MH) 3-2 (41-75, 70-33, 41-39, 37-67, 79-24).
Group D: Dhruv Agarwal (WB) beat Amit Sapru (MH) 3-1 (61-31, 58-49, 19-52, 61-31).
Group F: S.A. Saleem (TN) beat Pankaj Vanjari (MH) 3-1 (65-31, 19-55, 58-38, 64-35);
L. Nagaraj (KTK) beat S.A. Saleem (TN) 3-2 (53-13, 36-53, 61-09, 29-75, 72-00).
Group G: Cherag Ramakrishnan (MH) beat Anil Sagar (MH) 3-0 (71-10, 94(56)-12, 57-46).
Group H: Dhruv Sitwala (ONGC) beat M. Baskaran (TN) 3-1 (62-27, 74-02, 53-59, 70-01).
Group I: Geet Sethi (GUJ) beat Sharad Kumar (DEL) 3-0 (68-44, 75(56)-34, 68-10);
Atit Shah (KER) beat Sharad Kumar (DEL) 3-0 (51-32, 71-57, 57-36);
Atit Shah (KER) beat Sharad Kumar (DEL) 3-0 (51-32, 71-57, 57-36);
Geet Sethi (GUJ) beat Atit Shah (KER) 3-2 (64-36, 87(46)-01, 36-46, 43-75, 66-29).
Group J: Kankan Shamsi (UP) beat Rahul Agrawal (GUJ) 3-0 (65-16, 55-08, 57-13);
Sarang Shroff (MH) beat Kankan Shamsi (UP) 3-2 (72-49, 72-16, 20-62, 37-81, 70-34).
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