Mixed fortunes for Chawla in Wilson Jones snooker, billiards

Mumbai, Aug 10 (UNI) Kamal Chawla of Railways escaped to a pulsating five-point win in the billiards first round as he experienced mixed fortunes, in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship, at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Chawla (scr) faced stiff competition against veteran Behram Aga (+100) before heaving a sigh of relief with a narrow 200-195 win.

Shaken by the unexpected challenge, Chawla (+5) later crashed in the first round of snooker as Jay Patel (+60) fashioned an impressive 102-85, 97-83 win.

In another significant tie, Nishant Dossa (+35) of CCI also rallied to a hard-fought 49-93, 97-92, 104-91 win over Tata Sports Club marker L.S. Mhatre (+45) in a thrilling third round encounter.

Mhatre got off to a good start by snatching the opening frame, but Dossa struck back by clinching the second frame on the black.

Dossa then trailed by 42 points in the decider before recovering and firing a crucial break of 28 in the end to take it away from a hapless Mhatre.

Fancied Nikhil Ootam (+20) of CCI and Siddharth Parikh (+30) of P J Hindu Gymkhana made premature exits after crashing in the second round.

Defending champion Lucky Vatnani (+25) of Hyderabad opened his campaign with a convincing 105-56, 99-58 first round win over formidable Dashrath Sable (+50).

Results: Snooker: 3rd Rd: Nishant Dossa (+35) bt L.S. Mhatre (+45) 49-93, 97-92, 104-91.

2nd Rd: Prakash Karande (+50) bt Chandu Kansodariya (+50) 115-58, 111-68; Amit Sapru (+50) bt Behram Aga (+60) 69-119, 96-88, 115-107; Sagar Shelar (+50) bt Siddharth Parikh (+30) 102-90, 101-67; Afshad Kelawala (+60) bt J.S. Yende (+45) 96-101, 103-100, 113-95; Mayank Shah (+60) bt Nikhil Ootam (+20) 95-87, 104-95; C.S. Puranik (+45) bt Dipendra Pineyar (+50) 94-93, 105-61; Joseph Menezes (+50) bt Zulfikar Sarla (+55) 122-61, 101-111, 108-95; Siddharth Sogani (+60) bt Mahesh Jagdale (+45) 92-111, 111-79, 95-71; Dhruv Choksi (+60) bt Raghav Kothari (+60) 118-95, 112-95.

1st Rd: Jay Patel (+60) bt Kamal Chawla (Rlys, +5) 102-85, 97-83; Chetan Chhabria (+40) bt Rishabh Amin (+60) 99-88, 115-85; Manjeet Singh (+55) bt Jaideep Deshpande (Pune, +55) 106-118, 118-91, 112-101; Devansh Jariwala (+55) bt Hemant Parmar (+50) 106-98, 94-101, 113-112; Lucky Vatnani (AP, +25) bt Dashrath Sable (+50) 105-56, 99-58; Tejas Shah (+60) bt Mahadeo Karande (+55) 114-82, 101-118, 108-82; Billiards: 1st Rd: Vilas Arundekar (+100) bt Shailesh Naik (+80) 200-110; Kamal Chawla (Rlys, scr) bt Behram Aga (+100) 200-195; Joe Thomas (+70) bt Minaj Borkar (+90) 200-190; Yasin Merchant (-100) bt Sanjay Jhaveri (+80) 200-189; Sachin Sancheti (Pune, +50) bt Zareer Shroff (+100) 200-198; C.S. Puranik (+40) bt Diveyesh Inamdar (+70) 200-103; Sarang Shroff (+20) bt Siddharth Somani (+100) 200-135.

UNI