Garware marker Shirke stuns Shroff in Handicap snooker

Mumbai, Aug 5 (UNI) Garware Club House marker Sujit Shirke shocked India No 6 Sarang Shroff in the snooker second round, on a dramatic day of upsets in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards&Snooker Championship, at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Shirke (+60) capitalised on Shroff's (+5) missed opportunities to cruise to an impressive 93-84, 79-87, 102-50 win in the best-of-three frames tie.

After taking a surprise 1-0 lead with the opening frame, Shirke surged to a crucial 40-point lead in the second as he led 72-32 and looked set to seal his win in straight frames. But Shroff utilised his vast experience and capitalised on Shirke's blemishes to recover before forcing the decider.

Shroff, a former national champion, was again at the receiving end in the third and final frame as he trailed by 30 points at 43-73. He had two brilliant opportunities to snatch it away but to his horror, he missed a black, pink and endured a couple in-offs in a forgettable performance.

Devendra Joshi (+5) also made a premature exit as he lost to club mate Rajesh Mehta (+50) 93-72, 17-102, 89-101 in an all-P J Hindu Gymkhana second round.

There was a long list of casualties in billiards, as Dhruv Sitwala, Melvin Mascarenhas, Siddharth Parikh, Dashrath Sable and Chetan Dalal crashed out on a disastrous day for fancied cueists.

Meenal Thakur (+30) was the only saving grace as she sailed to a 200-158 win over Rishit Jain (+90) in the first round.

Results: Billiards: 2nd Rd:Gautam Jagtiani (+100) bt Dhruv Sitwala (-200) 200(83,58)-48; Rohinton Daruwala (+80) bt Devansh Jariwala (+90) 200-149.

1st Rd: R.S. Mehra (+90) bt M.D. Ali (+90) 200-194; Kekoo Nicholson (+80) bt Neville Cardozo (+90) 200-157; Mundir Sherazi (Kar, +80) bt Melvin Mascarenhas (+70) 200-178; Ativ Patel (+100) bt Siddharth Parikh (-100) 200-34; Meenal Thakur (+30) bt Rishit Jain (+90) 200-158; Praveen Kapadia (+100) bt Dashrath Sable (+90) 200-181; Arun Agrawal (-80) bt Kishan Bhatia (+80) 200-133; Prakash Karande (+90) bt Chetan Dalal (+60) 200-107; Afshad Kelawala (+100) bt Nishit Chandan (+100) 200-144; Chandresh Shah (-10) bt Nikhil Ootam (+30) 200 (55,32)-170; Harold Sylvester (+100) bt Omar Mansoor (+100) 200-172; Kazaan Talib (+100) bt Prathamesh Sawant (+90) 200-173; Hasan Badami (+80) bt Raghav Kothari (+100) 200-181.

Snooker: 2nd Rd: Nilesh Nayak (+60) bt Mehernosh Billimoria (+60) 114-101, 109-104; Sahil Patel (+60) bt Bakerao Pacharni (+60) 125-92, 97-112, 100-91; Sujit Shirke (+60) bt Sarang Shroff (+5) 93-84, 79-87, 102-50; Bernard James (+45) bt Rajiv Singh (+55) 107-73, 99-89; Rovin D'Souza (+30) bt Avinash Shah (+60) 119-68, 108-71; Rajesh Mehta (+50) bt Devendra Joshi (+5) 72-93, 102-17, 101-89. 1st Rd: Nishant Dossa (+35) bt Dharmesh Parekh (+65) 119-80, 96-81; Manish Adnani (+45) bt Amit Thakkar (+60) 119-94, 111-88.

UNI