Yasin, Omar sail into third round of handicap snooker tourney

Mumbai, Aug 6 (UNI) Title favourite Yasin Merchant and fancied Omar Balsara sailed into the snooker third round in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Merchant (scr) overcame Bombay Gymkhana's Rohinton Daruwala (+45) 92(40)-46, 92(47,30)-63 in a contest between quality cueists.

Merchant's efforts included a break of 40 in the first frame and a 47 and 30 in the second.

Last year's runner-up Omar Balsara (+15) fashioned a 95-81, 102-61 win over Manav Raheja, after enduring an early challenge in the opening frame.

Earlier, there were upsets in the first round as Tej Chawda rallied to beat Gaurav Prabhu 2-1, Zaheer Ratansi of Otters Club shunted out Khar Gymkhana's Manoj Kasare 2-1 and Matunga Gymkhana's Ajay Deware overcame D.G. Kasar 2-0.

UNI