Marzdi beats Chandresh; enters snooker final

Mumbai, Aug 23 (UNI) Bombay Gymkhana's Marzdi Kalyaniwala overcame Chandresh Shah to advance to the snooker final in the Kotak Mahindra Bank-Wilson Jones Open Handicap Billiards and Snooker Championship at the P J Hindu Gymkhana here today.

Kalyaniwala (+20) ended the winning streak of P J Hindu Gymkhana's Chandresh Shah (+35) 86-64, 85-54, 72-96, 36-99, 73-67 in a thrilling best-of-five frames semi-final that culminated in a black ball finish in the decider.

Shah recovered brilliantly to level the frame scores after trailing 0-2, following the loss of the first two frames. Though he struggled to find the form that brought him into the penultimate round, Shah enjoyed a comfortable 60-31 lead in the fifth and final frame and looked set to take it away.

But he missed the black on two occasions, and Kalyaniwala seized his opportunity on the second, as he struck a decisive break of 30 to lead 66-61, with only the pink and black remaining.

Shah sunk the pink, after Kalyaniwala chose to play safe, to lead 67-66. But he again bungled on the black to lay it on a platter for Kalyaniwala, who returned to complete an easy pot in the top pocket.

Earlier, Vaibhav Sharma (+50) of Delhi made a surprise entry into the semi-finals when he ended the winning ways of Islam Gymkhana's Iqbal Khakhu (+55) with a 98-89, 72-112, 94-105, 117-88, 113-69 win in another exciting tie that went a distance.

Sharma set up a clash with defending champion Lucky Vatnani (+15) of Hyderabad, who overcame twice Asian champion Yasin Merchant (scr) 90-14, 70-52, 23-81, 67-49 in the quarter-finals.

Results: Snooker (Semi-finals): Marzdi Kalyaniwala (+20) bt Chandresh Shah (+35) 86-64, 85-54, 72-96, 99-36, 73-67.

QF: Vaibhav Sharma (Delhi, +50) bt Iqbal Khakhu (+55) 98-89, 72-112, 94-105, 117-88, 113-69; Lucky Vatnani (+15) bt Yasin Merchant (scr) 90-14, 70-52, 23-81, 67-49; Marzdi Kalyaniwala (+20) bt Omar Balsara (+15) 61-75, 75-52, 64-54, 91-57.

UNI