Junior Aditya Mehta raises hopes of making to senior side

Mumbai, Sep 10 (UNI) Junior National snooker champion Aditya Mehta consolidated on his first day win over Yasin Merchant to blank Rafat Habib 4-0 to entertain hopes of making it to the Indian team at the Fourth Asian Games snooker selection tournament at the Goregaon Sports Club here today.

Lying at the bottom of the table in the six-player bunch from whom four will be picked, Mehta showed a positive approach when down 0-58 he turned the tables on Habib in a black-ball finish. If Mehta finishes third, he could overtake Rupesh Shah and Rafat Habib for the No 4 spot.

Yasin Merchant continued to go downhill losing 3-4 to Manan Chandra who was one rung lower than him in the table after three camps.

Leader Pankaj Advani had three half century breaks while beating Rupesh Shah 4-2. Rupesh considered to be a danger man could not display the consistency to climb the ladder.

Following are the results: Aditya Mehta bt Rafat Habib 4-0 (62-9,64-22,65-64,65-5); Pankaj Advani bt Rupesh Shah 4-2 (24-87,60-19,135 (64,51)-0, 42-54, 74 (58)-15,76(76)-0); Manan Chandra bt Yasin Merchant 4-3 (74-8, 20-73, 0-95, 1-97 (67), 78-2, 71-16, 96 (76)-1).

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