Iqbal Khakhu pulls off thrilling win

Mumbai, Aug 3 (UNI) Islam Gymkhana's Iqbal Khakhu rallied to a thrilling 2-1 win over fancied Vipul Shah in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship, at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Khakhu (+60) overcame Shah (+45) of Santacruz Gymkhana 103-123, 111-74, 113-101 to advance to the second round. Shah got off to a good start by snatching the opening frame in the best-of-three frames tie. But Khakhu came back into the match by clinching the second frame and forcing the decider, before fashioning the upset of the day.

Khakhu's son Rahil (+60) was not so fortunate as he went down to fancied Hemant Parmar (+50) 1-2 in another exciting first round match.

Nishit Chandan of Matunga Gymkhana, Deepak Nagvekar of P.J. Hindu Gymkhana and Chembur Gymkhana's Aparajit Mittal were responsible for the other significant wins.

In first round billiards action, P.J. Hindu Gymkhana's Devansh Jariwala (+90) shocked formidable Amit Sapru (+60) 200-156.

Results: Snooker: 2nd Rd: Chandu Shah (+40) bt Gaurav Gupta (+45) 71-97, 120-63, 104-53.

1st Rd: Deepak Khubchandani (+40) bt Sanjiv Bijlani (+50) 84-106, 107-82, 96-89; Nishit Chandan (+60) bt Mihir Shah (+65) 102-92, 100-111, 116-109; Rohington Daruwala (+45) bt Harish Mehta 113-86, 99-76; Sandeep Vengurlekar (+50) bt Pradeep Kapadia (+65) 114-95, 123-109; Hemant Parmar (+50) bt Rahil Khakhu (+60) 113-74, 94-102, 114-91; Deepak Nagvekar (+60) bt S.P. Saraf (+50) 111-67, 100-109, 113-101; Aparajit Mittal (+55) bt Suresh Mahadik (+50) 118-63, 99-87; Abdul Rehman (+55) bt Chetan Dalal (+55) bt 102-65, 117-103; Divesh Gangwani (+60) bt Sanchet Gemavat (+60) bt 101-96, 105-102; Gaurav Gupta (+45) bt Sanjay Patil (+55) 107-95, 118-72; Hitesh Kotwani (+40) bt Rishi Jain (+60) 117-75, 102-86; Iqbal Khakhu (+60) bt Vipul Shah (+45) 103-123, 111-74, 113-101.

Billiards: 1st Rd: Sandeep Vengurlekar (+100) bt Rahul Narang (+100) 200-166; Devansh Jariwala (+90) bt Amit Sapru (+60) 200-156; Sanju Kothari (+100) bt Malcolm Andrade (+100) 203-144; Sunil Jain (+80) bt Mahesh Jagdale (+80) 200-173; Gaurav Gupta (+90) bt Abhimanyu Parikh (+100) 200-187; Chetan Hemadi (+100) bt Joseph Menezes (+100) 200-140; Hitesh Mirchandani (+100) bt Siddharth Khemani (+100) 200-156.

UNI