Rehman snatched a 37-7 32-19 0-43 1-57 34-28 17-19 39-19 win after his more fancied rival fought back from 0-2 down in the best-of-seven-frame match.
Seasoned Dhruv Sitwala of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) utilised his vast experience to rally from a 1-3 deficit and overcome Kartikeya Sharma, also of Maharashtra, 20-29 17-50 37-17 26-34 35-9 40-23 47-22 in another third round qualifying clash.
In other third round ties which went down to the wire, Jasim Tawin of Karnataka beat Rajat Khaneja of Chandigarh 46-22 35-33 56-18 11-45 5-39 3-41 31-8 and Vijay Goel of Delhi prevailed over Punjab's Manjot Singh 56-0 16-46 36-8 32-38 10-39 60-10 41-10.
Others to advance to the main draw were India sub-junior snooker champion Dhwaj Haria of Gujarat, former Maharashtra snooker champion Nikhil Ootam, Kabil Badami, former Asian Games gold medalist Ashok Shandilya and Maharashtra junior number one Jaiveer Dhingra. (More)
