Two-time world billiards runner-up Dhruv Sitwala fashioned a narrow win in the CCI Classic Billiards and Snooker Tournament here today when he overcame K Venkatesham of Railways in Group D.
Sitwala, of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, surged to his third straight win in the group with a hard fought 454-418 victory over Karnataka-based cueist Venkatesham in the two-hour format contest that was crucial to his progress in the competition.
Former Railways champion Siddharth Parikh registered back-to-back wins by prevailing over former world professional No. 7 Nalin Patel and Maharashtra state selection junior champion Jaiveer Dhingra of ONGC in Group A.
Parikh is sitting pretty with four wins in a row that has enhanced his chances of qualifying for the knock out pre-quarter-finals.
In Group B, world bronze medallist Ashok Shandilya and Maharashtra senior state selection champion Arun Agrawal also recorded their third straight wins to keep their hopes alive.
Results: Group A: Jaiveer Dhingra (ONGC) bt Satbir Narula (CCI) 612-287; Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) bt Nalin Patel (Mah) 500-313; Nalin Patel bt Satbir Narula 729 (125,92,91)-201; Siddharth Parikh bt Jaiveer Dhingra 718(101,121,94)-256.
Group B: Arun Agrawal (Mah) bt Kekoo Nicholson (CCI) 854(116,90)-293; Ashok Shandilya (Rlys) bt Rohan Jambusaria (Mah) 671(135)-351; Arun Agrawal bt I.H. Manudev (Ktk) 625(114)-409.
Group C: Malkeet Singh (CCI) bt V. 'Raja' Subramanian (Mah) 538-373; V. 'Raja' Subramanian bt Shekhar Surve (Rlys) 427-309; Aditya Agrawal (Rlys) bt Shekhar Surve 388-343; D. Rajkumar (Ktk) bt Shekhar Surve 492-276.
Group D: Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) bt K Venkatesham (Rlys) 454-418; Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 417-395; Rupesh Shah bt K Venkatesham 398(101,91)-363.
