Ishpreet upsets Joshi in All-India Snooker

Mumbai, Aug 7 (IANS) India sub junior No.3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha was third time fortunate when he stunned Asian bronze medallist Devendra Joshi of BPCL in a 4-3 thriller in the Shyam Shroff Memorial All-India Open Invitation Snooker Tournament at the Khar Gymkhana Tuesday.

After coming close to upsetting national 6-Red champion Shivam Arora and formidable Mahesh Jagdale earlier, Chadha of Khar Gymkhana finally made the most of familiar conditions to overcome the much accomplished Joshi.

Chadha raced to surprise 3-1 lead after dropping the opening frame in the best-of-seven Group C contest. But Joshi showed him who was the master when he drew level to force the decider. The match sprang to life as Chadha snatched a 28-59, 49-20, 61-35, 61-18, 39-74, 14-88, 76-65 win that ended it a gripping final frame.

In another upset, India junior No.1 Laxman Rawat of Delhi beat double Asian champion Yasin Merchant in another 4-3 thriller, after leading 3-0 in Group A.

Andy Lee of Hong Kong announced his arrival when he fired the tournament's highest break of 137 against Rafath Habib of Railways in an enthralling exhibition of potting and positioning. In the process, Lee completed four out of four wins to qualify for the knockout quarter-finals from Group D, along with Sourav Kothari of ONGC who also recorded four straight wins.

Faisal Khan of Railways also fired a significant break of 100, the second highest, en route to a 4-2 win over the last edition's runner-up Shahbaaz Khan of BPCL, to also qualify for the knock out from Group B with four straight wins.

Results: Group A: Kamal Chawla (MP) bt Hasan Badami (CCI) 60-41, 85-26, 65-19, 67-40; Yasin Merchant (Khar Gym) bt Abhimanyu Gandhi (Guj) 70-26, 82-43, 74-49, 57-36; Laxman Rawat (Delhi) bt Yasin Merchant (Khar Gym) 54-8, 68-38, 36-7, 0-110, 35-85, 36-77, 74-54; Kamal Chawla (MP) bt Harish Pahuja (Khar Gym) 62-8, 41-57, 72(71)-13, 74-6, 64-6; Kamal Chawla (MP) bt Abhimanyu Gandhi (Guj) 65-37, 58-25, 37-72, 80-15, 53-33; Hasan Badami (CCI) bt Abhimanyu Gandhi (Guj) 62-31, 99-2, 55-23, 62-55; Yasin Merchant (Khar Gym) bt Harish Pahuja 44-52, 27-58, 81-10, 51-14, 65-27, 75-13; Laxman Rawat (Delhi) bt Abhimanyu Gandhi (Guj) 19-74, 80-41, 62-42, 70-32, 54-41.

Group B: Faisal Khan (Rlys) bt Shahbaaz Khan (BPCL) 116(100)-9, 59-51, 91-30, 61-69, 41-59, 82(52)-10; Alok Kumar (ONGC) bt Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) 80-1, 64-41, 82-47, 70-36; Faisal Khan (Rlys) bt Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) 57-12, 79-27, 25-68, 53-66, 65-48, 56-19; Alok Kumar (ONGC) bt Sarang Shroff (NSCI) 31-68, 60-23, 48-68, 60-2, 88-30, 62-37; Shahbaaz Khan (BPCL) bt Deepak Khubchandani (Khar Gym) 82-15, 65-8, 89(67)-16, 81(52)-13.

Group C: Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Khar Gym) bt Devendra Joshi (BPCL) 28-59, 49-20, 61-35, 61-18, 39-74, 14-88, 76-65; Sundeep Gulati (Delhi) bt Devendra Joshi (BPCL) 27-64(45), 74-13, 65-58, 75-47, 62-35; Sundeep Gulati (Delhi) bt Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Khar Gym) 55-34, 74-39, 56-17, 62-58; Manan Chandra (BPCL) bt Mahesh Jagdale (Elphinstone CC) 77-54, 61-54, 6-75, 76-46, 88-6; Mahesh Jagdale (Elphinstone CC) bt Shivam Arora (Bihar) 60-30, 43-61, 28-60, 56-16, 58-49; Shivam Arora (Bihar) bt Devendra Joshi (BPCL) 70-7, 50-40, 59-29, 28-67, 61-23.

Group D: Andy Lee (Hong Kong) bt Pushpinder Singh (Delhi) 61-9, 89(88)-1, 69-29, 53-70(50), 56-30; Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Himanshu Jain (Hyd) 18-71, 89(56)-17, 29-61, 54-33, 79-42, 8-70, 113(42, 46)-0; Andy Lee (Hong Kong) bt Rafath Habib (Rlys) 38-88, 142(137)-0, 49-74, 68-25, 31-64, 48-15, 48-36; Pushpinder Singh (Delhi) bt Himanshu Jain (Hyd) 82-11, 64-37, 32-68, 71-8, 57-56; Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Amandeep Kohli (Khar Gym) 95(55)-27, 88-33, 68-38, 69-32; Andy Lee (Hong Kong) bt Himanshu Jain (Hyd) 32-72, 89-12, 59-13, 85-26, 60-52.