Kaizad downs Meenal Thakur to enter semis

Mumbai, May 10 (UNI) Meenal Thakur missed the pink and the opportunity of a possible semi-final berth, in the Rexello Castors - Islam Gymkhana Open Handicap&Invitation Snooker Tournament at the Islam Gymkhana here today.

In a thrilling pre-quarter-final tie against the formidable Kaizad Fitter, Meenal missed the pink in the deciding frame of the best-of-three contest before Fitter returned to complete the formalities.

Had Meenal won, she was expected to go through her quarter-final against Rahul Narang too, that would have taken her into the elite Invitation phase of the competition that begins on Friday.

Meanwhile, the four semi-finalists who have qualified for the Invitation include Rovin D'Souza in Group 'A', Karan Anand in Group 'B', Kaizad Fitter in Group 'C' and Rishabh Kumar in Group 'D'.

Fancied Sarang Shroff finds himself in Group 'B', the 'group of death', along with Devendra Joshi, Dhruv Sitwala.

Results: Quarter-finals: Karan Anand (+25) bt Kaizad Dandiwala (+50) 86-78, 57-114, 103-58, 102-82; Rishabh Kumar (+45) bt Harish Pahuja (+50) 105-68, 106-108, 106-99, 120-87; Kaizad Fitter (+35) bt Rahul Narang (+55) 99-71, 109-68, 120-91.

PQF: Kaizad Fitter (+35) bt Meenal Thakur (+50) 64-94, 106-63, 114-93.

Group A: Yasin Merchant, Rishabh Pandya, Shravan Mohta, Tony Monteiro, Rovin D'Souza, Haji Usman.

Group B: Sarang Shroff, Devendra Joshi, Dhruv Sitwala, Hasan Badami, Karan Anand.

Group C: Kamal Chawla, Ashok Shandilya, Marzdi Kalyaniwala, Jatinder Dawer, Kaizad Fitter, Sahil Khan.

Group D: Omar Balsara, Rafath Habib, Siddharth Parikh, Chandresh Shah, Rishabh Kumar.

UNI