CCI snooker: Rajat overpowers Nabil; Alok in main round

Chandigarh, February 14 

Local cueist Rajat Khaneja defeated Telangana's Nabil Lakdawala 4-1 (65-53 41-63 65-8 77(77)-0 72-24) in the fourth round qualifying of the CCI All India Open Snooker Championship in Mumbai, today. Khaneja played a stable game and posted a stunning show in the first frame. However, Lakdawala  tried hard to register a stunning comeback in the second frame with a 22 points lead. At 1-1, Khaneja used all his experience to bag back to back three frames and qualify for the sail round. 

Meanwhile, Rahul Sachdev of Cue Schooling fought back to down seasoned opponent Rafat Habib of Railways 4-2 in this Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money.  The left-handed Sachdev constructed substantial breaks in succession as he went on to win four frames on the trot after losing the first two frames and clinch a well-deserved win to progress to the main draw.

Sachdev will take on veteran and Alok Kumar of PSPB in the first round.

Habib, with efforts of 56 and 67, took the first two frames before Sachdev struck a purple patch. He rolled in breaks of 79, 65, 52 and 62 to post a 6-101(56) 1-83(67) 79(79)-8 65(65)-62(43) 96(52)-5 and 63(62)-25 victory.Trailing 1-3, Mumbai's Manav Panchal (Malabar Hill Club) defeated Venkatesh (Railways) 4-3 (46-84 56-7 50-63 55-66 64-62 66-21 78-9) —TNS/PTI