Former Asian Games gold medalist Rafat Habib of Railways registered two successive wins in Group-D of the MIG Cricket Club-organised third Master's National Snooker Championship here on Sunday.
First Habib warmed up nicely as he played steadily to defeat Maharashtra's Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10).
Then Habib produced some impressive performances as he constructed three substantial breaks of 77 (1st frame), 55 (3rd frame) and 45 (4th frame) as he went on to record a 3-1 win against Maharashtra's Sanjiv Shah.
Meanwhile, Karnataka's D Rajkumar started with a flourish by convincingly winning both his matches in Group-E.
The Karnataka cueist blanked Shekhar Surve of Railways 3-0 (86-59, 87-17 and 86-01) and then halted the fine run of Goa's Samar Khandelwal by recording a fluent 3-0 (85-43, 62- 08, 64-03) victory.
Both Rajkumar and Khandelwal (two wins, one loss) are in contention of qualifying for the knockout rounds from this group.
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Anuj Upal of Delhi and Rafat Habib of Railways launched the campaign on a winning track.
Upal defeated Maharashtra's Bapu Gaikwad 3-0 (76-16, 75-19 and 92-08) in a Group-C match, while in Group-D encounter, Habib prevailed over Maharashtra's Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10).