|
|
Otters Club Amateur 9 Ball Pool Championship 2009
02 April 2009 @ Mumbai
Chawla shocks Aditya Mehta
Kamal
Chawla of Railways shocked Aditya Mehta of Mumbai to storm into the
quarter-finals on a dramatic day of upsets, in the Otters Club All India 9-Ball
Pool Tournament on Thursday. On an exciting day of absorbing encounters where
players with a reputation to protect were surprisingly stretched, Chawla started
the ball rolling when he overcame Mehta 9-1 in the pre-quarter finals. Mehta had
his chances but Chawla was more cautious and was rewarded for his consistency.
In another upset of the day, Alok Kumar of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board
stunned India No. 2 Sumit Talwar of Chandigarh 9-7 in a thrilling race-to-nine
contest between quality cueists. Kumar kept pace with the formidable Talwar as
they were level at 6-6 in a neck-and-neck battle. But Kumar got a fluke on ball
number 7 in the 13th rack, capitalized on the opportunity and never looked back.
Yasin Merchant of Otters Club endured an unexpected challenge from young Sandeep
Gulati of Delhi before snatching a narrow 9-8 win. Merchant got off to a good
start with a 2-0 lead that included a fluke on the nine ball in the opening
rack. The twice Asian champion surged to 4-2 and 7-4 before Gulati came back
into the match with start-to-clearances on three successive occasions.
Under pressure, Merchant utilized his vast experience in cuesports to lead 8-7
after snatching the 15th rack. But the never-say die Gulati drew level before
Merchant snatched the match away with brilliant potting in the 17th rack.
In another close tie, qualifier Divya Sharma halted Roshan Mirchandani of Otters
Club following a 9-6 win.