Qualifier Prateek Jain of Madhya Pradesh shocked fancied Jaiveer Dhingra, while former junior national champion Zubin Leninwala escaped to victory to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Malabar Hill Club-BSAM All India Under-25 Snooker Challenge, today.
In a Group A tie, where a win was mandatory for either to qualify for the knock-out phase, Bhopal lad Jain halted former Maharashtra state junior billiards and snooker champion Dhingra of local PJ Hindu Gymkhana 3-0 after living dangerously in the opening two frames which he narrowly snatched on the black ball.
Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana's Leninwala, second leg runner-up at NSCI earlier in the season, fought his way back from 0-2 to shunt out Poras Shah of Matunga Gymkhana 3-2, in a thrilling Group B match.
But there was more drama in Group H, where qualifier Rohan Sakalkar of PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune and Nikhil Saigal of city-based Khar Gymkhana qualified for the last 16.
While Sakalkar cemented his place in the knock-out, a win for Saigal, and two others in the group, Avenish Shah of Indian Snooker Academy and Arjun Mehta of Bangalore, was mandatory to qualify.
While Saigal prevailed over Shah 3-1 following a nail-biting black-ball win in the crucial fourth frame, Mehta went down to Sakalkar 2-3 in another close game, after leading 2-1.
Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Bombay Gymkhana, Priyank Jaiswal and Anurag Giri, both of MP, Laxman Rawat of Khar Gymkhana, Pranit Ramchandani of Chennai, Aditya Agrawal of ISA, Rovin D'Souza of PJ Hindu Gymkhana and India junior No. 4 Vishal Vaya were some of the others to advance tomorrow's pre-quarterfinals.
