Maharashtra State Ranking Billiards & Snooker Tournament 2008

26 August - 17 September 2008

Arun Agarwal squeezes into Quarters.
 

Bombay Gymkhana’s Arun Agarwal, ranked No.17 in the country, went through some anxious moments before he squeezed into senior snooker quarterfinals of the of the Malabar Hill Club-Maharashtra State billiards/snooker selection tournament, hosted by Malabar Hill Club here on Wednesday.

Earlier, in the round of 32, he was down 0-2 before rallying to get the better of Otters Club’s S. Selven 42-51, 38-46, 63-14, 63-50, 64-39. ‘’It was just one of those days when things did not work out to my expectations. I had a bit of hectic day and  had to rush for my match. Perhaps this led to my losing focus initially during by which time I was down by two frames,’’ said Arun, who is the youngest of the Agarwal trio cueist d with  Subhash  being the eldest and the late Om.

Later, Arun again had to bring out his best against Rishab Kumar  before he made the last eight grade with a 46-9, 48-16, 59-67, 65-62 win. With the six of eight players, Amit Sabool, Bhushan Shahade, Hasan Badami, Chandu Shah Arun Agarwal and Rishab Pandya  have already clinched the quarterfinal spots, the tussle for the remaining two is going on with Harish Mirchandani playing Manish Adnani and Nikhil Ootam taking on Zubin Vajifdar.  The four winners of the quarterfinals, will then go into the round-robin league to decide the winner.

Results
SENIOR SNOOKER (Pre Quarters):

Amit Saboo bt Gaurav Prabhu 68-28, 61-19, 49-42

Bhushan Shahade bt Manav Panchal 93-33, 48-35, 36-58, 53-35

Hasan Badami bt Rushab Jain 56-8, 55-39, 42-76, 59-29

Chandu Shah bt Rajeev Sharma 56-54, 51-47, 56-40

Arun Agarwal bt Rishab Kumar 46-9, 48-16, 59-67, 65-62

Rishab Pandya bt Rahul Narang 57-44, 66-26, 62-25.