Yasin outclasses Shroff, Gulati continues his good form

Pune, May 5 (UNI) Asian bronze medalist and former national champion Yasin Merchant today outclassed Sarang Shroff in straight frames on the first day of the second Poona Club Limited (PCL)-Manisha Open and Invitational Snooker Championship being played here.

In a terrific display of snooker, second seeded Merchant scored breaks of 46 and 67 (unfinished) in the third frame winning 91-19, 86-27, 106-8.

Top seeded former Asian snooker champion Alok Kumar scraped past Rafat Habib 62-49, 69(68)-36, 44-81, 72-46. In another tussle, Sandeep Gulati, who made it to the finals of the open event, continued his good form knocking out second seeded Shravan Mota 61-29, 64-53, 68-16.

Following are the results: First Round: Brijesh Damani bt Sarang Shroff 72-39, 67-51, 67-60; Neeraj Kumar bt Sachin Sancheti 66-31, 51-27, 68-85, 52-49; Rushabh Pandya bt Rupesh Shah 52-66, 57-26, 44-24, 66-32; Rahul Bagga bt Varun Taneja 9-89, 30-55, 60-49, 48-43, 58-57; Alok Kumar bt Rafat Habib 62-49, 69(68)-36, 44-81, 72-46; Sandeep Gulati bt Shravan Mota 61-29, 64-53, 68-16; Yasin Merchant bt Sarang Shroff 91-19, 86-27, 106 (46, 67-unfinished)-8.

UNI