Teenager Sparsh Pherwani crowned himself in glory as he emerged as the Maharashtra state senior snooker champion on Sunday.
Pherwani (19), was in good nick and with some crafty play he dashed the hopes of his senior and more accomplished opponent Rishabh Thakkar by coasting to a 4-1 victory in the best-of-7 frame snooker final of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship 2018.
Pherwani was slow to take off the blocks as Thakkar made a positive start and played solidly to take a close opening frame. That hardly had any effect on Pherwani who managed to gather his wits and uncorked a tidy break of 48 in winning the second to draw level (1-1).
Having won the second frame, Pherwani grew in confidence and did not give Thakkar much opportunity in the third and easily won the frame to wrest the initiative.
In the fourth the Mumbai youngster trailed by over 35 points, but he showed great composure and with some tactical play fought back. He put Thakkar in difficult situations with tight snookers and gradually bridged the gap before going on to snatch the fourth to open up a 3-1 lead.
The fifth was a close affair which Pherwwani managed to win on the black to complete a well-deserved 43-61, 62-27, 69-6, 56-47, and 64-57 triumph.
"It's a very good victory. Winning the state senior snooker title is really very good," a confident Sparsh said.
Meanwhile, Mukund Bharadia of Mumbai finished in third position. He defeated Punes Vignesh Sanghvi 2-1 in the 3rd-4th place match.
Results Final: Sparsh Pherwani (Mumbai) beat Rishabh Thakkar (Mumbai) 4-1 (43-61, 62-27, 69-6, 56-47, 64-57).
3-4th placing: Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Vignesh Sanghvi (Pune) 2-1 (83(64)-19, 23-65, 65-15).
5-6th placing: Manav Panchal (Mumbai) beat Abhimanyu Gandhi (Mumbai) 3-2 (19-67, 13-59, 55-44, 66-14, 68-51).
7-8th placing: Anand Raghuvanshi (Mumbai) w/o Pankaj Khatri (Nashik).
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