Youngster Sachdev downs seasoned Alok to enter round 2

Mumbai, February 15 

Qualifier Rahul Sachdev pulled off a sensational first round upset as he sent former national champion Alok Kumar packing in the Rs 12.25 lakh prize money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship here today.

Sachdev, mentored by another former champion Sanjay Sawant at his city-based academy Cue Schooling, recorded a 4-2 victory over Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's Kumar after he trailed 1-2 in the best-of-seven encounter at the Cricket Club of India's Wilson Jones Billards Room. He notched up a 62-18, 6-91, 3-75, 66-42, 80-16, 70-25 victory, with one half century break worth 53, with which he pocketed the fifth frame for a crucial 3-2 lead against the former Asian billiards and snooker champion before cruising into the pre quarter finals.Seasoned campaigner Sourav struck a near-century break (99) in the last frame to outclass Manav Panchal of Maharashtra 4-1 and also enter the last 16.

Results 

(4th qualifying round): Rahul Sachdev (Cue Schooling) bt Rafat Habib (Railways) 4-2 (6-101(56), 1-83(67), 79(79)-8, 65(65)-62(43), 96(52)-5, 63(62)-25); Manav Panchal (Malabar Hill Club, Mumbai) bt Venkatesh (Railways) 4-3 (46-84, 56-7, 50-63, 55-66, 64-62, 66-21, 78-9); Taaha Khan (Pune) bt Mukund Bharadia (CCI, Mumbai) 4-3 (37-10, 16-89(53), 42-49, 2-92(82), 65-43, 72-43, 73-31); R Girish (Railways) bt Bharat Sissodia (Madhya Pradesh) 4-1 (65(56)-60(60), 42-65, 64-50, 58-48, 58-44); Arvind Kumar (Railways) bt Niraj Vasava (Surat) 4-0 (83(36)-14, 71-19, 60-47, 62-45); Nitesh Madan (Rlys) bt Johnson (Gujarat) 4-1 (32-73, 71-67(53), 79(50)-47, 63-2, 62-45); Rajat Khaneja (Chandigarh) bt Nabil Lakdawala (TLGN) 4-1 (65-53, 41-63, 65-8, 77(77)-0, 72-24); Sundeep Gulati (PSPB) bt Abhijeet Ranade 4-2 (52-56, 65(57)-9, 42-76, 50-41, 107(95)-13, 68-4); Abhimanyu Gandhi (Otters Club, Mumbai) bt Kanish Jhanjharia 4-1 (76-16, 68-42, 45-52, 62-23, 64-19); Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Khar Gymkhana, Mumbai) bt Ketan Chawla (MP) 4-3 (60-22, 24-63, 46-57, 83-35, 15-60, 68-17, 65(61)-16); Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Anuj Uppal (Delhi) 4-0 (67-5, 74-46, 70-47, 72-65); Sidhraj Shah (CCI, Mumbai) bt Anand Raghuvanshi (Hindu Gymkhana, Mumbai) 4-2 (67-33, 76-86, 15-74, 59-10, 73-48, 65-31). 

First round results: Divya Sharma (Haryana) bt Aditya Agarwal (Maharashtra) 4-2; Shahabaz Adil Khan (BPCL) bt Sidraj Shah (Maharashtra) 4-2; Rahul Sachdev (Maharashtra) bt Alok Kumar (ONGC) 4-2; Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Manav Panchal (Maharashtra) 4-1; Manan Chandra (BPCL) bt A Gandhi (Maharashtra) 4-0; Himanshu Jain (TL) bt R Girish (Railways) 4-1; Kamal Chawla (Railways) bt Nitesh Madaan (Railways) 4-1; Pankaj Advani (ONGC) bt Aravind Kumar (Railways) 4-0; Sumit Talwar (Punjab) bt Taaha Khan (Maharashtra) 4-3.