Meenal Thakur shocks Sachin Sancheti

Mumbai, Aug 9 (UNI) Meenal Thakur of Bombay Gymkhana shocked fancied rival Sachin Sancheti of Pune 2-0 in the second round of the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship, at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Enjoying a handicap of +50, former national champion Meenal utilised her vast experience to race to an impressive 95-71, 96-59 victory over Sachin, who was a quarter-finalist in the last edition.

In a contest between quality players, Meenal surged to significant leads in both frames and held on as Sancheti buckled under pressure and never recovered.

It was another day of upsets as Rajan Desai (+65) stunned CCI's Kekoo Nicholson (+50) 100-94, 97-117, 102-68 in an exciting first round, while Rishabh Kumar (+45) overcame Bhushan Shahade (+40) 2-0 and Rahul Chandan (+65) prevailed over R S Mehta by the same margin.

Abdul Rehman (+55) ended Mohan Shetty's (+50) run with a shock 2-0 win in the second round.

In exciting second round encounters between quality cueists, CCI's Nishant Dossa (+35) upset Neil Vithalani (+30) 79-68, 88-47, while Sanjay Jhaveri (+45) got past Sunil Jain (+45) 104-60, 86-94, 104-96 after potting the pink in the decider.

Results: Snooker: 2nd Rd: Meenal Thakur (+50) bt Sachin Sanchetti (Pune, +25) 95-71, 96-59; Aparajit Mittal (+55) bt Ghanshyam Ved (+55) 103-90, 113-99; Rahul Bhatnagar (+55) bt Omkar Hingare (+55) 107-67, 105-94; Nishant Dossa (+35) bt Neil Vithalani (+30) 79-68, 88-47; Sameer Sanghavi (+60) bt Nishit Chandan (+60) 107-115, 114-79, 105-85; Abdul Rehman (+55) bt Mohan Shetty (+50) 99-74, 106-93; Ramesh Sadarangani (+45) bt Deepak Nagvekar (+60) 106-95, 119-87; Sanjay Jhaveri (+45) bt Sunil Jain (+45) 104-60, 86-94, 104-96; 1st Rd: Faisal Fattani (+55) bt Sangeeta Hemchand (+55) 102-99, 100-82; Rajan Desai (+65) bt Kekoo Nicholson (+50) 100-94, 97-117, 102-68; Rishabh Kumar (+45) bt Bhushan Shahade (+40) 100-97, 95-75; Siddharth Parikh (+30) bt Rajni Mashru (+55) 104-63, 111-77; Rahul Chandan (+60) bt R.S. Mehta (+50) 122-62, 109-88.

Billiards: 1st Rd: Hitesh Kotwani (+70) bt Sagar Shelar (Pune, +60) 200-149.

UNI