Shandilya, Habib register easy wins

Mumbai, May 17 (UNI) Ashok Shandilya and Rafath Habib of the Railways fashioned easy wins to sail into the semi-finals, in the Rexello Castors-Islam Gymkhana Open Handicap&Invitation Snooker Tournament at the Islam Gymkhana here today.

Playing on adjacent tables in best-of-seven frames contests, Habib overcame Chirag Ramakrishnan of Mumbai 58-27, 60-58, 56-9, 84-6 in the quarter-finals, while Shandilya dropped the opening frame but recovered quickly to rally to a 24-73, 70-3, 107-11, 88-17, 70-45 win over Rovin D'Souza.

Chirag, a surprise entry in the quarter-finals from Group 'C', struggled with his potting as Habib capitalised on his opponent's errors to clinch the tie. Only the second frame raised hopes of a longer contest as Habib snatched it narrowly.

Shandilya was taken by surprise early as D'Souza clinched the opening frame to once again raise hopes of a tight battle. But the seasoned Shandilya put the blemish behind and warmed up to romp into the last four.

Late last night, Shandilya and Habib won their concluding Group 'C' matches to seal their quarter-final berths.

Joining them were Sarang Shroff and Devendra Joshi from Group 'B' and Omar Balsara from Group 'D'.

Shroff takes on Balsara and Joshi faces Yasin Merchant in the other quarter-finals.

Results (Quarter-finals): Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Chirag Ramakrishnan (Mumbai) 58-27, 60-58, 56-9, 84-6; Ashok Shandilya (Rlys) bt Rovin D'Souza (Mumbai) 24-73, 70-3, 107-11, 88-17, 70-45. Thursday's Group ties: Group 'C': Ashok Shandilya bt Kamal Chawla 60-24, 53-73, 72-51, 87-15. Group 'D': Rafath Habib bt Siddharth Parikh 89-42, 59-54, 59-47.

UNI